The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
by smilinginthedark
Summary: Damon's back and as pleasant as ever, meanwhile Mystic Falls is in trouble, but then again isn't Mystic Falls constantly in trouble. (aka my predictions for this week's episode) No longer a One-shot.
1. The More You Ignore Me, The Close I Get

Damon was staring into the fireplace dueling his demons in silence, he watched the flames flicker and burn bright much like the rage he's been trying to subdue. He was aware that his brother, was observing him intently, still sure that he would disappear as quickly as he came.

"Stefan can you stop being a creep." Damon said patting the seat next to him on the couch, yes he would rather drown in alcohol and despair alone but he did miss his little brother.

"Sorry," Stefan apologized and took a seat next to him; and gently patted his brother on the back mainly to make sure that he was indeed real and still there.

"Stefan quit poking me every 5 seconds, I told you I'm real."

"We'll see about that when Alaric comes." Damon scoffs but he gets it, it was hard to believe that he was really back he was having a hard time interpreting it himself. Especially at the expense that came with him being here.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are."_ Echoed through his mind like an eerie scream in a cave. He finished his glass of bourbon and turned towards his younger brother.

"Whatever makes you feel better, but I can assure you I'm 100% real." Stefan smiled at him he couldn't help it he had his older brother back, but he wondered how. He was trying to find the right the way to word the question because it looked like Damon was adamant on not giving any answers.

"So would you like to tell me what's this incredible surprise? That will apparently prevent me from kicking your ass." Alaric said stepping through the front door of his apartment, until he froze.

"Damon… this can't be possible." He choked out, questioning his sanity immediately. Stefan on the other hand felt a sense of relief, because he was not the only one who could see him. Damon stood and turned to face his best friend with wary eyes.

"Oh but it is." He said giving him a small smirk.

"What but how?" Alaric asked still trying to comprehend what his eyes were showing him.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are."_

"The how doesn't matter buddy, what matters is that I'm here." Damon walks up to him and smiles, and then Alaric embraces him. Damon acknowledged the warmth and deepened the hug much like he did with his brother. He attempted to retain the warmth and joy he felt from seeing both his brother and best friend, but he couldn't because his mind was clouded with thoughts, thoughts of her. So the joy and the warmth are quite brief but he dwells in it anyway.

"So I see that nothing has changed, you still reek of bourbon." Alaric cringed breaking their embrace, with a grin on his face but inside he felt his vampire life gain some normality, his best friend was back.

"Well you happen to have an impressive collection." Damon was stunned Alaric had all his favorites; almost as if he were expecting his return.

"You taught me well." Alaric said after he poured himself a glass with an intent eye on his buddy. Damon took the bottle and poured him and his brother a glass as well.

"I did indeed." He handed his brother the glass and he didn't refuse it, although bourbon wasn't Stefan's drink of choice he had been getting use to it as of late. Damon could sense the tension between the other two and decided to plop his ass down on what happened to be a quite comfy armchair.

He sipped his bourbon, he knew there was a lot to spill the beans about because it's Mystic Falls and it wouldn't be Mystic Falls if things weren't constantly falling apart.

"So tell me what have I missed?"

She was dead she was sure of it; there was no way she could have survived the arrow. But yet she was quite aware of her harsh breathing and the pain bursting from her midriff. She managed to open her eyes, only to find that she was indeed still in the cave. Of course she didn't die that would have been way to easy, and nothing in her life was ever easy.

"Look who finally decided to wake up." She turned her head to find Kai sitting on a boulder; great know she had to deal with him too. She tried to move but the pain was too much for her small body to handle. Kai watched her; he himself wasn't in the jolliest of moods seeing how he had lost his one chance out of this god-forsaken prison. In fact he was a little pale and his hair was frazzled from him having tried to yank it out, Bonnie took note of this.

"You know you've been out for awhile now and I just keep on thinking about what you did earlier. And all I can say is how could you have possibly been so stupid!" He finished in a fit of anger; he was closer to her now.

"I wouldn't have expected you to understand." Bonnie stated as her head met the cold stone ground of the cave, she wasn't planning on getting up any time soon, or ever.

"You're right I would never be able to understand the **idiocracy** I witnessed, today." Bonnie was sick of the sound of his voice.

"Great, now can you let me die in peace." She asked all she wanted was to be left alone. She knew all to well what she gave away, her only ticket out of here and yet she could not bring herself to feel regret. She was glad she sent Damon, because she might not have made it but he did and he would get a chance to live again.

"You know I thought about letting you bleed out here, and letting you die alone. But I decided against it one, because it wouldn't be any fun to let your death go to waste. And two because it's only fair you live out the rest of your miserable existence, in hell with me." His face now inches away from hers.

"What?" Was all she could manage to get out.

"Let me clarify, you don't get to die today or ever for that matter." He said with finality as he began to lift her into her arms, and carry her. She didn't like this one bit, she would much rather die than spend an eternity locked here with Kai.

When the sunlight hit her she instantly covered her eyes but Kai seemed unphased. She watched him how his eyes were sharp ahead, there was something unplaced underneath his exterior. She knew he was mad but somehow he managed to look broken and resolute. She knew then that he would save her but she didn't want to be saved, not by him anyways. She let him carry her to the outskirts of the woods where she had remembered Damon had left his Camaro.

"Put me down." He just snorted in reply not taking her seriously.

"I said put me down!" Bonnie mustered all the strength she could find because she needed it if she expected the ludicrous plan she had conceived in the last 5 seconds to work. Suddenly Kai looked at her and his face was unreadable but he slowly put her down. She managed to keep herself standing, but she knew that she was going to have to be able to do more than that if her escape plan was going to work. She started to move one foot in front of the other, and Kai watched her.

"What exactly is you're plan, to hobble away." Kai laughed at her sad attempt to "run". But Bonnie could see Damon's car in the distance, and she had never been happier to spot that stupid baby blue Camaro.

"No." She turned around and stared at him, he had her backpack and it was strapped on to him but she needed it. So she focused on a rather large stick with a pointy end fairly close to where Kai stood, then grinned.

"Motis" The stick then pierced his heart, and he dropped to the ground. She grabbed her backpack and hustled towards Damon's car, she knew he had only a short amount of time before he rose from the dead. When she made it to the car, she could kiss Damon for leaving the keys in the ignition. She dragged herself in and started the engine, there was a vast difference in height between Bonnie and Damon so she could barely reach the gas pedal. But from afar she saw that Kai had begun to stir, so she slammed her foot on the gas and zoomed the hell out of there.

"So Mystic Falls is supernatural free." Damon said not even bothering to ask because that's what he and Bonnie had figured. And apparently there was a vampire hunter out on the loose; hell-bent on ending the vampire race but just so happens to be friendly with his brother. Stefan and Alaric seemed to be trying to occupy him with trivial things, meanwhile mentally fighting each other. Damon chose to ignore it because his sorrow though still strong was numbing, after downing a two whole bottle of 100% pure alcohol Kentucky bourbon. Yes he could say he felt a bit better now that his mind was scattered, he could feel a buzz coming on.

"Look as much as I would love to discuss the always impending problems of Mystic Falls, I plan on seeing my girl tonight." Damon wanted to see her now, because he was sure she would be the only person who could relinquish the anguish that weighed so heavily over his dead heart. But he noticed the look Alaric and Stefan shared in silence, a look of pity and discomfort.

"What now?" He whined.

"About Elena…" Stefan began as Alaric stared at him; an instant fear crept up into Damon.

"Tell me she's ok!" Damon yelled gripping both of their collars, he was barely dealing with what Bonnie had done; he would not be able to live if something had happened to Elena.

"She's fine actually she's better then fine!" Stefan yelled and Damon dropped both of them, a small sense of relief washed over him. His girl was fine she was more than fine.

"Then what's the problem." If she was more than fine than nothing could possibly be wrong, if Elena was happy all is good.

"The problem is… she doesn't quite remember you." Stefan forced himself to say.

"What do you mean, she doesn't remember me? I'm the love of her life." Damon explained as if it were quite obvious, his mind was spinning. Alaric had been silent ever since the topic of Elena, had come up so Damon eyed him suspiciously.

"I… Compelled her to forget her love for you." Alaric said his voice tainted with guilt. Damon's eyes grew wide, as did the fire in his heart.

"And why on earth would you do that?" Damon was happy to see his buddy earlier but now he had the overwhelming urge to snap his neck.

"Because she asked me too." Damon's eyebrows shot up at this confession, why would the love of his life do such a thing. His demeanor had fallen, as he fought to comprehend.

"She couldn't handle the fact that you were dead, and she fell of the rocker. She would use herbs to hallucinate you and was feeding on strangers. She was lost without you. So she asked me to-"

"Erase me." Damon finished, his girl who he had been dreaming of getting back to the last 4 months decided to erase him because she couldn't bear the pain of not having him by his side, he had no words for this predicament. So instead of an attempt at words he broke open another bottle of bourbon and chugged the whole thing down, his insides burning as the liquor rushed down his system. He focused on the burning sensation instead of everything else, and was sad when it all ended. His vision began to distort and he could not see clearly nor did he want too, he staggered over to Alaric.

"4 months in hell and I'm coming back to this, I can only say thanks _buddy._" Alaric's body hardened he knew how Damon could be when his feelings where all over the place.

"Damon you have to understand-"

"Shhh, shh I don't want to hear another word from you." Then with no remorse Damon snapped his neck. Stefan's mouth dropped in regard to what he had done, but Damon didn't even think another second as he grabbed another bottle of bourbon.

"Now if you excuse me, today has been an awfully long day and I do believe it is time for me to take a nap." Damon said with an air of finality because he could sense Stefan's urge to retaliate, but before he could he speed away into a guest bedroom and planted himself on the bed. He downed the bottle of bourbon and threw it across the room, when it had served its use. His was definitely drunk, but how he wished he stole another bottle so that he could simply black out. But he was quite close; he was having a hard time distinguishing what was up and what was down after awhile sleep took him away.

"_It's time Damon."_

"_Alright… let's get awkward." _

"_Like this?"_

"_yeah"_

"…_I'm sure there are about a billion people you would rather be with here with."_

"…_Not exactly."_

"…_Not exactly."_

"…_Not exactly."_ Damon's eyes flashed open, the sun hurting his eyes. He had seen her face, the way she cringed up her nose at him and smiled.

"…_Not exactly." _He shook his head to stop her from clouding his mind. Today was a new day, he was alive and it was beautiful out and he'll be damned if he was going to be tortured forever. He got up, a man on a mission he stepped into the closet, with the sudden memory that this was not his closet.

"Stefan!" He screamed there was no way he was going to face today without an armor of leather. But to Damon's disappointment nothing but the wind at his window replied. He barged towards the door wondering why anyone would leave him alone in his present condition. He could understand why Alaric wouldn't be here; he had snapped the man's neck. When he opened the door and peered outside he spotted a set of clothes outside his door, it brought a small smile to his face. Stefan knew him like no other; he retrieved his clothes and changed immediately. The leather jacket was a bit tight around the edges but besides that it fit like a glove, he stared at his reflection. He was back to his bland colorless wardrobe and he should have been glad but instead something was nagging him. It was her, _she_ was nagging him because he knew that she preferred him with colors. His face contorted, so much for not trying to think about her but how could he not she had done the unbelievable for him.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are." _Yeah he was going to need a lot of liquor, he marched out of the room. Alaric's new digs were small but then again the professor was living alone, Damon headed towards the kitchen until he came across what looked like a library. He peeked inside and found something that interested his eye a nice set of liquor; he dashed his way towards it grabbing the bottle and proclaiming it his.

"Damon." Damon spun to see that Alaric was seated in a plush chair at what seemed to be his desk, so Damon took a seat across from him. Pouring himself a glass he was glad that his buddy didn't seem all to mad at the fact he snapped his neck last night, maybe because he knew he deserved it.

"So how are you?" Alaric asked seeing that had he been drinking copious amounts of alcohol, he leaned into his chair still glad to see that his friend was alive.

"Well let's see. My best friend compels my beautiful lovely girlfriend to forget that she ever loved me. I'm great Ric." Damon said coating every word with sarcasm and taking a sip from his glass.

"Again I apologize but once again it was her wish."

"You think, I don't know that." Damon said ditching the glass and drinking from the bottle.

"You realize you're halfway through my liquor cabinet."

"Yeah I was thinking maybe you should restock." Alaric just gave him a look of pity and decided to change the subject.

"So are you ever going to grace us with the tale of how the Damon Salvatore escaped hell, and returned in one piece?" Little did he know Damon wasn't in one piece he was had been shredded, broken, and stabbed.

"Ahh, the tale that will obviously live on forever."

"Yes that would be the one." Well Damon had yet to fully plot out the details of that tale, so he would prolong the storytelling for as long as possible. Because he couldn't just tell them that he failed to bring her back, that he had failed everyone but most importantly that he had failed Bonnie. They didn't need to know what happened to Bonnie because they didn't need to know to relive the pain of losing her all over again. That was a burden he would carry all on his own.

"_I'm not going to make it, but you are."_

"Well I don't like telling stories more than once, so that tale will be told when everyone is hear to listen to it."

"Great, because their all on there way here now." Well that bought him no time what so ever, indicating that he would have to be quick on his feet.

"Good because I don't like to be kept waiting. Now do you happen to have any pancakes?" Damon had the urge for pancakes all morning mainly because he was use to them and because they reminded him of Bonnie.

"_**Pancakes**_?" Alaric said wondering why the weird request considering he had been in hell for 4 months and he was a vampire.

"Yes _**pancakes**_."

"No I don't have any _**pancakes**_." Alaric said perplexed at him, why he hasn't he asked for blood. Damon didn't care to notice how he was looked at him because his craving for pancakes just intensified. He was about to recommend that Alaric go fetch him some but then the there was a knock on the door. Alaric stood up abruptly, and Damon knew his time for plotting out his story had ended. Seconds later his acquaintances poured in one by one, each of them equally surprised as the last one to see Damon's blessed face. No one said anything; afraid he might disappear if they did so. Everyone was there besides Enzo who he had figured had skipped town a while ago and Elena who he didn't expect to show up anyways. So Damon decided to state the obvious, "I'm back" he sang. If their eyes were wide before they were even wider, now.

"Now tell us the story." Alaric said stepping in next to Stefan who was also quite eager to hear the tale of his brother's escape but his eyebrows still furrowed in worry of what he had done to return. And Damon had finally realized how he would play out his story.

"Well it looks like the whole Scooby Gang is here, so… wait a minute, where's Bonnie?" He swallowed the sound of her name on his tongue mad his throat run dry, and his stomach churn he didn't know how he was going to keep up this façade.

"What!" Jeremy growled. Damon didn't dare look him in the eye if he was going to survive this lie.

"Oh you know, she's about yay tall. Judgy little thing and happens to have the hots for you." Damon went to the pour himself a drink, and waited for a response that he knew he would not get. Everyone had hoped he knew the answer to his question.

"Wait… don't tell me she didn't make it back."

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are." _Damon fought to continue his façade, and finished his glass, her face was burning bright in his mind, she was smiling at him with tears in her eyes as she tossed him the ascendant device.

"No she didn't, she died bringing everyone else back." Jeremy stated anger fueling every sentence.

"We we're hoping that she was with you." Damon attempted to snort at what Stefan said but it came out mangled and broken.

"I was in hell Stefan! Do you honestly think that _Bonnie Bennett_ would be there with me? I'm sure she's somewhere up there, judging us right now." His last sentence coming out a little stifled he hadn't thought about where Bonnie could be right now, hopefully she had found peace. Let her at least have found peace, he begged the universe.

"She knew she was going to die didn't she?" Damon asked no one in particular, he knew she had scarified himself to save everyone and that just yesterday she had sacrificed herself to save him.

"Well then, that just shows what we already know to be true."

"And what's that?" Caroline pondered speaking up for the first time and Damon looked at her like actually looked at her. He could tell she hadn't taken Bonnie's death well.

"That Bonnie Bennett was better than all of us. That I might be the one who returned but she… She's the true hero of this story." In that moment Caroline saw Damon in a new light and she found a respect for him, because all though no one else had bothered to mention it. He had, Damon had been they're all of two seconds before he had stated what everyone needed to hear, the truth. No one could deny the respect that had blossomed in their chest for what Damon had said, not Jeremy, not Matt, and not Tyler. Damon knew that he had never spoke truer words than in that moment, and he hoped that wherever Bonnie was she could hear him. He wanted to thank her but at the same time he wanted to scream at her for being so selfless. She was unlike anyone else he had ever knew, she really was a hero that they should all strive to be like. A silence passed over them, a moment for their fallen hero.

"So how did you manage to escape?" Asked another voice, a voice of he missed dearly. Elena. Her face was even more beautiful then he remembered, and she looked as if she were glowing.

"Well I was trapped in some other dimension." Damon answered averting his eyes from the beauty that was Elena.

"Alone?" Stefan asked. Then her face invaded his thoughts yet again, she was giving him a little lopsided smile again her eyes as bright as emeralds, and his stomach twisted in return.

"Yes, alone or so I thought. Until I met a warlock, who was also imprisoned there. He had this device that could bring us back, but he needed vampire blood to trigger it."

"Let me guess, you killed and him stole the device and came back home." Elena said in a huff, she was beautiful but she still managed to get on his nerves.

"No, I didn't kill him although, **I should have**. He planned on leaving me behind once he got my blood, so I robbed the device and viola here I am." Damon stated hoping that he had kept the story simple enough that they weren't any major plot holes. He could see them already buzzing with questions he was not prepared to answer.

"Elena can I speak to you, please." Damon pleaded in an attempt to leave the room and finally have some one on one time with the girl he so longed for.

"Uh sure." Damon stepped outside and she followed him, Elena had figured that they would have to talk.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"You know what I want to talk about."

"Look you were dead and you weren't coming back and apparently I couldn't handle that."

"I get that, I do. But why erase the memories of us if that's all you had to remember me by?"

"Because it was those memories that stopped me from living." Damon was trying to understand but he couldn't, he just couldn't. No matter how painful it would feel to lose her he would never erase his memory of her, like he would never erase his memory of Bonnie.

"It's just that-"

"Maybe I shouldn't have come today." Elena said starting to walk away but he grabbed her and reeled her in close, Damon couldn't help but to want to kiss her. Elena could tell what he was trying to do as he leaned in, but she didn't want that. She sped herself into the nearest room and locked the door. Damon followed and just laid his head against the door and heard her heartbeat he knew she was on the other.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen." He sighed waiting for her to respond but she didn't.

"For 4 months I have missed you, and I want nothing more than to be with you right now. So why don't you just tell Alaric to allow you to remember, so that we could be together."

"Because I'm not sure if I want to remember." With those words whatever was left to be broken inside of him broke. She had begun to speak about how she was actually happy now but Damon wasn't listening anymore. Heck he wasn't even on the same planet; he had gone through hell only to return to a woman who no longer wanted him. He left Alaric's house and decided to roam the streets, he had no idea where he was heading and could care less. There was nothing left to fight for he was down for the count, his morose thoughts suffocating him. When he finally screeched to a halt and took a deep breath, night had fallen and he was unaware as to what time it was. He searched around to see where he was and across the street there was a diner. He walked across the street and stepped inside, taking a seat.

"What would you like to eat?"

"Pancakes."

"Sorry we don't serve breakfast at this time." Damon stared the waitress in her eyes and entranced her.

"I know it's not breakfast time. But I have been having an awfully bad day so if you could get me those pancakes I would be awfully delighted." Damon finalized compelling her to fetch him some pancakes. His life was a wreck and the only thing he wanted right now were some stupid fucking pancakes, and he'll be damned if he couldn't get them.

"Well you seem to be in a bad mood." A man seated next to him said.

"Thanks Captain Obvious." Damon said without even glancing at him.

"I'd watch the sarcasm if I were you." Damon snorted, who the hell did this guy think he was? He finally looked at him since he had now spiked his interest.

"Really and what exactly do you plan to do if I don't?" The man just smiled as if he held some secret, his blue eyes hiding something manic.

"Let's just say that you're not going to like it." The man placed his money on the counter and walked away. Damon smirked, because he was pleased at the asshole he had given him something to do. So Damon decided that before he could indulge in his beloved pancakes, that he could take out some of his rage on this man and murder him because he was obviously begging for it. He followed him outside and saw him turn into an alley. Great because alleys were Damon's place of preference when it came to murder.

"Hey asshole, where you going?"

"Nowhere the question you should be asking is where will you be going." Then a group of men stepped out from the shadows and surrounded him. Damon hissed this had been a set up. His fangs dropped in what felt like the first time in forever and he was ready to fight. Except there wasn't a fight with one motion from their leader, Damon was peppered in wood bullets, the pain raking his body as he dropped to the ground.

Bonnie had made it to the hospital, and she was frantically checking over her shoulders to check if Kai lurking over her. She was in search for some morphine, so that she could help ease the pain. She knew she had lost an immense amount of blood, probably past the point of no return. She thought about it, why should she fight to fix herself to have to keep on fighting Kai for what? So that she could spend the rest of eternity here, the ascendant device was shattered there was no returning home. This was it; maybe today was finally the day she died like actually died. No other side, no nothing just this being the end of the line. Her hope for anything more had left when Damon did. Bonnie having searched multiple cabinets finally found some morphine. She picked up a syringe and hobbled off to a bed, she was no doctor but she looked for a vein and hoped she was doing this correctly. She took a deep breath and stabbed the syringe into her arm, instantly she could feel it shoot up her arm. And in minutes she was numb and she had never felt better, she grabbed Cuddles from her backpack and laid down on a hospital bed. Bliss had settled over her body, as the pain eased out of her and she could feel nothing.

"I love you Cuddles, I hope you know that." She said whispering in Cuddles ear and another silence passed.

"What do you think he's doing right now, Cuddles?" Bonnie asked staring at Cuddles listening to her reply.

"You're right he's probably celebrating with Elena and Stefan." Bonnie said thinking about how happy Damon must be know that he was back with Elena and his brother, a soft smile formed on her lips.

"_I know there are about a million people you would rather be here with." _Little did he know that after spending 4 months with his annoying ass, there was no else she would rather be with. And even though she wanted to go home she wouldn't have changed the last 4 months for anything in the world, she had gotten to know peace here a luxury she was not allowed in real life. Despite her short and tragic life, she had felt love and peace, which is more than others, could say. She snuggled Cuddles closer and whispered to her.

"I'm ready." She closed her eyes, and let her entire life flash before her eyes, from her childhood with Grams to her last kiss with Jeremy. But the last image that resonated in her mind was Damon smiling shyly at her after she admitted to him that there weren't a billion people she would let take his place. She focused on his eyes, and how blue and sweet they were. Then she allowed death to take her.

When Damon awoke he felt like his body had been put through as much as hell as his brain had.

"Enzo?" Damon said when he realized who was sitting across from him.

"It is nice to see you Damon, although I would have preferred it under different conditions." His accent thick, Damon was glad too see his friend who had an equally sarcastic sense of humor as him.

"Wait where are we?" Damon asked as he took in his surroundings they were both chained into a van.

"Oh we just so happen to be on the way to our deaths." Enzo proclaimed with all the nonchalance in the world.

"Oh that's all?" Damon said smiling, trying to yank of his chains but they just burned his skin, must have been dipped in vervain. He started plotting a way out.

"Don't bother, I've already tried everything. We're trapped."

"Great." Just like the good old days.

"So tell me since we have nothing else to do, exactly how you stand before me."

"It's a long story."

"Trust me there is nothing I rather hear." Damon clenched his jaw he really didn't feel like lying his ass off yet again.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that I'm back." Damon figured that if he told himself this enough times he would believe to become true.

"And _the girl_?"

"What _girl_?"

"Oh you know, _the girl_."

"I'm afraid I don't." Damon knew all to well what girl he was referring too, she was about 5'2, short brown hair, and had the tendency to sacrifice herself for everyone.

"I'm talking about your little friend, Bonnie." Damon swallowed hard as he pushed her image away, she was smiling again with tears in her eyes.

"Oh_ her_."

"Yes_ her._" Enzo said staring at him, he was acting suspicious.

"I just learned today that she didn't make it back." Damon said hardening his exterior in hopes that Enzo would not figure him out.

"Well that's a load of crap, if I've ever seen one."

"What do you mean?" Damon asked trying to play innocent but he was never really good at it.

"You're lying, terribly if I might add." Damon rolled his eyes; Enzo wasn't going to be convinced so easily.

"I didn't kn-"

"Oh please you and I both knew that girl was on a suicide mission, and I know you were the last person to see her. So tell me what happened to the _girl_?"

"Why do you even care?" Damon asked wondering why Enzo of all people was interrogating like a bloodhound about Bonnie Bennett.

"Because that _girl_ just so happened to save my life." Enzo explained and you could see it in his dark brown eyes, that he was grateful. Damon exhaled heavily sick of the guilt that was gnawing at him, she had saved everyone, she had saved him.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are."_

"Yeah well you're not the only one." Damon contemplated telling him everything, just so that he didn't have to carry the burden of his secret alone.

"She sa-" Damon had started until the van crashed into something and next thing they knew both of them were flying through air as the van flew on impact. They landed with a thud, and the sound of cracked bones infiltrated their ears. Damon squinted moving his head trying to regain his posture.

"I came back for this?" Damon said he had literally been back for 24 hours and already his life was in jeopardy.

"You alright?" Enzo asked.

"Yeah you?" Enzo nodded in response as they tried to stand up, when someone flung the back doors open. It was Alaric, Matt and Stefan; a weird trio if he had ever saw one.

"Come on lets go." Stefan said ready to flee the scene after he uncuffed his brother, and hesitated when he came to Enzo, but ultimately decided to do it. And when he did Damon was not ready for what happened next, Enzo clasped Stefan's throat with no intention of letting him go and dragged him out of the van and onto the middle of the road. Damon followed behind them wondering what the hell Enzo was doing.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Enzo growled at Stefan whose face had been wiped of any guilt.

"What the hell is happening here?" Damon asked while he, Alaric, and Matt watched in confusion.

"Well while you were gone, you're baby brother here attempted to assassinate me. And is also the reason I was in my current predicament."

"Only because you killed my girlfriend!" Stefan retaliated trying to clasp onto Enzo's neck.

"A girlfriend he so thoughtfully decided to dump on us." Alaric included because he was still not over Stefan's actions. Damon tried to compute everything they were saying but only one thing came to mind.

"Wait, wait a minute. Stefan has a girlfriend?" His eyebrows raising in amusement, and everyone else rolled there eyes of course that was the only thing Damon had caught.

"Yes Damon, he had a girlfriend. Now where is she because she was suppose to be here with you guys." Matt said and suddenly Damon's curiosity sparked wondering what the hell the Matty Blue Blue of all people had to do with all of this.

"Well I can assure you, that Damon and I were the only ones in that van."

"Then where the hell is she?" Matt asked because he had calculated every part of this plan and she was supposed to be in the van.

"_She's_ right here." Tripp said walking out with Ivy in front of him with a stake halfway through her heart.

"Mhm not bad, baby brother, I gotta say she's cute." Everyone paused in there actions and sighed. Alaric just shook his head; this was not the time for Damon's snarky behavior. But Damon didn't care because the present situation had captured his full attention, which he so desperately wanted. And in any other moment the hot stranger calling her cute would have flustered Ivy but right now she happened to have a stake halfway through her heart. Enzo had lowered Stefan because there was someone higher up on his kill list and that happened to be Tripp, Stefan's eyebrows furrowed as they usually did when someone was in trouble.

"So what exactly is you're plan?" Alaric asked not sure how Tripp wanted to play this out, his only leverage was Ivy who wouldn't exactly be considered a loss in most of there eyes.

Her eyes fluttered open once again, she was still in the hospital meaning one thing she was alive.

"What the fuck!" Was she not allowed to die in peace, that was literally all she had asked for and yet the universe could not comply with her simple request.

"I have to say, I do enjoy it when you talk dirty." Her head snapped to the reclining chair in the hospital room and there sat Kai as comfortable as ever, his hands covered in blood. She twisted herself to see whom he could have possibly killed but it brought a sore pain to her abdomen. Her wound, she should have bleeded out by now but she hadn't. She lifted her shirt to examine her wound but there was no hole in the middle of her abdomen, just a couple of rugged stitches.

"What did you do?"

"Let's just say you owe me one, a big one." Kai said coyly as he stepped towards her.

"What did you do!" Bonnie screamed she had literally been seconds away from her death, never having to see a day of hell again.

"I think it's pretty obvious, that I saved you."

"Why?" Bonnie trembled she could not believe what he had done, what he had taken away from her.

"Why? You know usually people are grateful when people save their lives." Kai said a bit frustrated considering it was not easy playing doctor, although he did enjoy coping a feel on Bonnie.

"Who told you that I wanted to be saved!" Bonnie yelled she was furious now but her anger was draining her. Kai was baffled at her outcry but he understood, he himself awaited death like a gift but knew it would never come.

"You know what, I don't think Damon would appreciate the display you're putting on right now." Bonnie thought about it, and it hurt her to know that Kai was right. If Damon were here he would have slapped her silly for giving up so easily. He would ask her how she could fight until the ends of the earth for everyone but not herself.

"Well then it's a good thing he's not there." She sneered at him.

"Don't do that to your face, its not a good look on you." Then Bonnie's hand slapped the shit out of his face, you could hear the crack in the other wing of the hospital. When Kai turned his head back he was smiling like the sociopath he is.

"I didn't know you liked it rough." He grabbed her neck and brought her face to his and gazed into her eyes, she already knew what he was going to do.

"Well do it already, _drain_ me." His warm breath hit her face, and he watched her lips with intensity, his lips itching to take hers. But he decided not yet and stared at her face yet again as if trying to drink the very image of her. Then he latched onto her power and let it surge through him giving him an adrenaline high and she gasped, an image and sound that was pure bliss to his ears.

"I'm not going to drain you babe, like I said you don't get to die. Because you're all I got." He finished with a lick of his lips and commanded her to sleep. Instantly she fell into his arms and he laid her to rest, they would try this again tomorrow when she fully recovers and he had to admit he preferred her sleeping, then constantly screaming. Plus she was even prettier when she was sleeping.

"The question you should be asking is what is Stefan's plan?" With a snap two other men stepped out of the shadows and they held Caroline and Elena in the same position as Ivy. All girls had tears in there eyes but Caroline had a look of fortitude about her.

"You see you lied to me, so now you get to choose which one of these lovely girls get to live." Enzo was prepared to launch himself in Caroline's direction, and Matt was furious that he had let the situation go this far. Damon stared into Elena's eyes but she wasn't looking at him she was staring at Alaric. Should he even attempt to save someone who didn't want to be saved by him? What exactly was Tripp's plan though they were 3 humans against 4 vampires and Matt Donavon. Then with another snap he upped the anti and a group of men enclosed them, causing a vibrant anger to flow through the bodies of the all these men.

"Did I mention you only have 10 seconds to decide?"

"Well then, I hope you have your hero hair ready." Damon directed towards his brother but ultimately spoke to all of them. With that the vampires released there fangs and there eyes went dark nerves rippling underneath them, they were ready for war.

"6, 5, 4, 3, 2… 1!"


	2. Even the Strong Fall

**Thank you, for all the reviews I would be lying if I didn't say that they make my day. Alright since you guys basically begged me to write a continuation of what was once a one-shot. Here it is! Just once again letting you guys know that I'm not actually a writer I kinda just had an idea of how the episode should go and then I just kinda wrote it down. But I did work really hard on this, although I was lazy so it kinda took me like 3 weeks to write it. Hopefully this doesn't suck ass and you guys enjoy it. Warning: You may get Defan feels**

The last 5 seconds on that road were a lethal blur. Enzo dashed towards Caroline when two men commenced shooting at him, which only slowed him down. It would take a lot more to bring down that Augustine vampire. Stefan on the other hand was having a tough time with the two stakes that protruded through his body but still he fought on. Alaric had fought the urge, but the smell of human blood brought him to feed on the fools who dared cross him and boy did he love drinking from the tap. Damon chose another path instead of blindly pursuing the girl of his choice. He sped along the perimeter cracking one neck at a time his speed unfathomable, clearing the path for the rest. He felt nothing as bullets pierced his ivory skin, because Damon was in his element. Rage an emotion that came second nature to him revved through his veins, which allowed him to see everything but yet nothing at the same time. 2 seconds were left and Damon knew he had a choice to make, whereas everyone else had already made his or her choice crystal clear. Elena's eyes matched the darkness of the sky as he glanced at her, tears had yet to fall. He snapped one more neck and fled to the damsel in distress. In one swift motion he yanked the stake from her body and caught her when she collapsed into his arms.

Jeremy Gilbert sat in distraught while staring at the Salvatore fireplace, hoping that the Salvatore Brothers' liquor cabinet could wipe his problems away. An activity the former owner had also excelled in. Maybe it was the fireplace or the ancient bourbon that put their minds to brew; Jeremy on the other hand didn't care as he went to refill his glass. He was already heavily intoxicated but even with his inhibitions unlocked all he could think about was one thing, Bonnie. No matter how much he drank, how many other girls he slept with, there was only one girl he could think of, Bonnie. No one could understand the anger, the pain, and the guilt he felt. Anger because she didn't bother to tell him that her end had arrived, because she didn't tell him anything until the last second over a phone call no less. The pain of never being able to watch her smile again, or kiss her, or touch her, or even hear the sound of her actual voice instead of her thoughtless voicemail. The guilt he felt because he knew that if she didn't die for him, she would be standing here and he would have been the one watching over her. But deep down there was a part of him that felt relief because if she wasn't in the hell Damon was in it could only mean she had found peace. A peace he knew she deserved because life hadn't been well to her, she deserved much more than life had given her and maybe wherever she was she was truly free and happy. Which brought a small smile to his face amid the tears he had shed.

"Maybe it's time for you to go to bed." Sarah said she had been watching him for a while. Jeremy's head whipped around hoping to find Bonnie but only to be greeted with a swirling image of Sarah, which only caused him to cry more. She slowly walked over to him; she had grown use to seeing him like this.

"Tell me something Sarah, why haven't you run for the hills? Huh. There is nothing good here." Jeremy had wobbled his way to her, cackling all the while. Slowly she walked towards him, her PJs grazing the floor as she reached out to steady him. In reality she had no answer to his question, she could tell that whatever awaited her here wasn't going to be good. But yet she couldn't bring herself to leave, she was dying to know more and maybe just like Jeremy she too was lost.

"Lets go back to bed, ok." She said placing his arm over her so that he could balance himself.

"It hurts." He whispered to her, the smell of alcohol infiltrated Sarah's nostrils.

"What does?" Sarah asked and watched him as he slowly dragged his hand to his bare chest. He was pointing to his heart.

"It hurts all the time." His voice grew grave.

"I know it does." She said moving him towards the stairs.

"Yeah but you don't understand. No one does." Little did Baby Gilbert know that there was someone who did understand; someone who understood the anger, guilt, pain, and the very miniscule sense of relief.

Damon watched as the wound began to heal, she stared back at him in confusion and appreciation. Damon took a glance around, they had managed to save all 3 of the girls and yet he had found that everyone was staring at him in bewilderment. He shrugged off their stares and once again looked back at the brunette eyes in front of him that had now begun to water. Her arms embraced him, because she would be forever grateful.

"Thank you." Damon wasn't use to those words, he rarely ever said it and it was even more rare for him to hear them. Especially with every syllable being spoken in sincerity, those words stirred something inside of him, and he had no idea what.

"_It means, there's hope for you."_

"No biggie, what was your name again?" He asked as he patted her on the back.

"Ivy. My name's Ivy." He offered her a smile as he let her stand on her own, and gathered his surroundings. Stefan and Enzo had tag teamed their way to Caroline making sure she was safe, Alaric had reached Elena in time, Matt had managed to stay out of harms way although he was a wreck considering he just saw all his friends get slaughtered within the matter of seconds. But despite all of this everyone was concentrated on him. And he knew why, he off all people in the world had chosen to save Ivy a person he doesn't even know. He decided to save the person that no one else would, he saved the girl that was the last thought on everyone's mind even though she too had stared death in the eye.

"_It means, there's hope for you." _He shook the voice that constantly echoed through his brain and turned to his audience.

"Where's the asshole who caused this mess?" Damon asked searching for Tripp, but not finding him in the vicinity until he heard a car screech taking off into the night. Damon would have chased it but it had already crossed the border into Mystic Falls. This snapped everyone out of their stupor, as they realized that there bad guy had just escaped.

"Great another bloody problem for us to deal with." Enzo sighed as Caroline slid herself out of Stefan's arms. The action was simple but it made all the difference to Stefan. The sky was a few shades brighter, the sun about to break through the horizon. It was a new day, and Damon was already fed up with it.

"Wakey wakey" A voice sang in falsetto into Bonnie's ears that caused her to stir from her sleep.

"Damon?" She asked her mind still clouded from her slumber, a small smile appearing on her lips because Damon had this knack for waking her up if she ever slept past breakfast.

"No, better." The sound of this voice was hungry and childish. Her eyelids separated to find the image of Kai lying beside her. Bonnie was quick to shove him off her bed, she was surprised to find herself in her own bed. Because that indicated that Kai had brought her here in his arms and probably watched her all night like the creep he is.

"Well that's no way to treat you're guardian angel." Kai retorted.

"Why must everyday of my life be an endless nightmare?" She asked the world with the knowledge that there will never be an answer.

"Well that's not nice, considering I made you breakfast." Kai said while invading her personal space as usual. If looks alone could kill then Kai would have died fifty times in the last 5 seconds.

"I love it when you're angry…" He began leaning into her ear. "It's hot and it makes me happy in all the right places." He smiled mischievously and ran out of the room before she could murder him. Half an hour later, she appeared downstairs much to her own disbelief, but Kai wasn't surprised at all he had expected her to come out of curiosity. He patted the chair next to him for her to sit down, so Bonnie made a show of taking the chair furthest from him. The only result, a grin breaking out on his face, as he moved to sit closer to her and handed her a plate of bacon and eggs. Her eyes fell to inspect the plate with an acute intensity.

"How do I know this isn't poisoned?" She interrogated as she analyzed his face only to find him rolling his eyes.

"I think I've already proven that I want you alive. Plus if it is poisoned wouldn't that be the quick end to you're nightmare?" He raised his brow and she smirked he was right so she helped herself to a mouthful of eggs hoping that he did have the balls to poison it, although she knew better. The action brought a grimace to Kai's face, she was serious about the prospect of her death, but he quickly recovered.

"So if you're not going to kill me, what do you plan on doing?" Bonnie could detect no poison to her disappointment, and to add on to that she had found his eggs to be delicious. But for some reason her brain didn't want her to eat the bacon and eggs even though her body was telling her that she was hungry.

"The same thing I've always planned on doing. Getting the hell out of here." And although there was an edge to his voice, he still grinned like a fool, which made him all the scarier.

"Do I have to remind you that you're one way ticket out of here is no longer valid." Bonnie deadpanned as she forced herself to continue eating; she needed her energy levels high in case Kai tried something.

"That seems to have totally slipped my mind." Kai exhaled with sarcasm.

"What exactly is you're plan?" Bonnie asked sick of beating around the bush she wanted to know what the jerk face was up too already.

"Well in all honesty, I have two plans. Plan A your sexy self figures out a way to open that portal again." Kai winked.

"Yeah, ok. I see myself doing that about as much as I see myself becoming friends with you."

"So… soon." Kai grinned.

"Are you telling me you want to be my friend? If so do you know that friendships don't tend to start with sending an arrow through your so called friend's body."

"You're still mad about that? To be fair you murdered me, the second I was no longer useful to your cause." Kai was more than enjoying this constant back and forth.

"I was simply trying to do the universe a favor." She smirked as she crunched into her bacon.

"I'm glad you have a sense of humor. But if we're going to be realistic here, technically I've been a better friend than you."

"Please tell me, how your psychotic brain could possibly come to that conclusion?"

"Simple you murdered me with the plan of letting me stay stuck here forever, and I shot you with a bow but ultimately saved your life." He said mentally congratulating himself for being so kind.

"Ok but are you forgetting that you tried to murder my friend?" Bonnie didn't use his name because she couldn't bring herself too.

"Who, Damon? I already told you he was just leverage."

"And the fact that you tried to drain me of my power."

"First time was simply a demonstration of my skill, second time you asked for it. Third time was to let you have a peaceful sleep." Kai explained with his hand gesturing the simplicity of it all.

"This doesn't change the fact that you are a sociopath who murdered his entire family."

"Not entirely, remember I allowed my sister to live. Besides that's all in the past." Kai clarified with a wave of his hand.

"No it's not because your sister is alive and she will forever be traumatized by the decisions you made. And yet you feel no remorse and know no mercy." Bonnie could see that this unsettled him, unlike the subject of homicide.

"Traumatized! That's rich; I suppose you want me to feel bad for my sister who actively gets to live out her life. While I have lived an eternity imprisoned." Kai was on the edge of his seat and this is the first time Bonnie had ever seen him accurately display rage, but she wasn't afraid. She leaned in, so that her face was mere centimeters away from his, which in any other moment would have been deeply satisfying for Kai but not right now.

"You deserve to live forever, with no hope of ever escaping this hellhole." Bonnie had felt mercy for many but she would not feel it for the monstrosity that is Kai. But he only returned her comment with a chuckle.

"That may be true. But soon you'll learn the effects of solitude. It has a way of eating at your sanity. This place can do a number on you. " Kai spoke with an eerie certainty.

"Well I rather be alone then deal with you for the rest of eternity." Then a genuine smile that spread from cheek to cheek spread across his face and he gazed deep in to Bonnie's green eyes. Something inside his own grey eyes beheld an emotion akin to pity, and then he simply walked away.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked sure that he was backing down from whatever they were just doing.

"I'm granting you your wish, I'm leaving." Bonnie's chin pushed back into her neck, as she was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get to rid of him. Some would say to easy.

"You can always beep me, when you realize the error of your ways." Bonnie rolled her eyes there was no way she was going to call him or beep him. She had gotten the easy way out from Kai; initially she was prepared to kill him everyday.

A week had passed since Damon's return. Ivy had learned to control her vampire ways with the support of Stefan and Caroline. And although they both helped Ivy, both have managed to do so without speaking a word to each other. Caroline had made it clear that she no longer wanted anything to do with Stefan, the only reason she helped Ivy was because she felt guilty about her capture. It was odd how they took care of Ivy some would say it reminds them of a divorced couple where both partners won custody. As of late Caroline had been spending most of her time with Enzo, who had decided that out of the kindness of his heart he would not kill Stefan. Alaric had been on a couple of dates with Jo, and he was becoming quite fond of her although she had yet to tell him why he can't compel her not that he expected her too. He had also managed to speak with Elena a few times and she was still quite happy with the prospect of not having her memories of Damon. In fact her happiness may have been in part of all the time she was spending with Liam. Matt on the other hand did not have a good week in fact he had to attend a surplus of funerals for his slaughtered friends, and Jeremy was either drunk or blacked out from being drunk. And Damon, well Damon was stuck living in the past.

Everyday he woke up and told Stefan that he was going out with no specific destination in mind. But the destination was always the same, he would head to a diner on the outskirts of town and compel himself some vamp cakes. Then he would go grocery shopping at the usual supermarket, where he would always buy a carton of eggs and a pair of aviators. Needless to say Damon had an excess of eggs and sunglasses back at Alaric's apartment. The regular cashier, Stefan, and Alaric were growing suspicious of the amount of eggs he bought, but Damon didn't care. Afterwards he would go on a long walk while 90's tunes blasted in his ears, then he would finish off the night by going to some bar and drinking until he was sure he was on the brink of death. That's when he would manage to find his way home and black out on his bed, his brother and Alaric already sound asleep. Or at least Damon thought, Stefan laid awake every night awaiting his brother's return, a part of him was immensely afraid that one day he would never return. Stefan wasn't stupid he knew that ever since Damon came back something was wrong; it was like Damon was just going through the motions of being alive. But this day was different Stefan had awakened early so that he could stop Damon before he left, but to his surprise he found Damon flipping pancakes in the small kitchen Alaric owned.

"You're up early." Damon stated knowing all to well the reason his brother was awake early was because of his concern for him.

"I could say the same for you." Stefan responded still trying to comprehend why the hell Damon was cooking.

"Pancakes?" Damon asked without lifting his eyes from the griddle.

"Uh, sure." Damon quickly handed him a plate and watched his brother's reaction as he surveyed his pancakes. He could see his eyebrows fury just a little and a small smile played on his lips.

"I didn't know they were novelty pancakes." As a pancake with a smile made of blueberries and fangs of whip cream gazed at him.

"You know me I'm a regular Picasso." Damon smirked and his brother snorted back at him and it brought a smile to Damon's features because it reminded him of how Bonnie would react to him, but the smile quickly disappeared when he remembered she was gone. Damon switched the stove off and sat across his brother to eat his pancakes. When Stefan watched his brother take a bite of the pancakes he came to the realization that Damon actually expected him to eat the pancake. Slowly Stefan reached for his fork, trying to remember the last time the two of them had sat down for an actual meal of their own will, and not to please a human. It had been so long Stefan began to think no occurrence had ever existed but then he recalled the last time they had a meal. It was when they were both newly transitioned vampires and Damon so desperately tried to cling onto his humanity by doing the most mundane activities such as eating food. So what did this breakfast mean exactly, that Damon was trying to cling on to his humanity that he had given up a long time ago? But what could have possibly orchestrated him to search for his humanity? Was it because he was stuck in hell for months? What happened while he was there? What did he do by himself everyday? If he was alone wouldn't he want to be in the company of others now? A million questions erupted in Stefan's mind, but he shook his head and bite into his pancake. He decided now was not the time to burden his brother with questions he did not want to answer.

"Not bad." Stefan stated his brother was usually a terrible cook, but these pancakes were quite delicious.

"You sound shocked."

"Damon lets face it, you've never been that great of a cook." Damon smirked he had missed his baby brother.

"And these pancakes are surprisingly…" Stefan lingered trying to find the word to explain them.

"What?"

"Edible."

"_You know when all this started, you sucked at making pancakes. And now they're somewhat edible."_

"You know what they say practice makes perfect." Damon offered a dry smile that didn't match his eyes as he had been doing since he had arrived.

"Practice?" Stefan asked wondering when Damon could possibly find the time to practice making pancakes.

"Yeah it means repeating an action until you get better." Damon responded with all the sarcasm in the world.

"I think I know what it means. But when did you have the time to practice making pancakes?"

"On the other side, there was an endless amount of time."

"But why? You don't even eat." Stefan asked rapidly and as casual as possible this was the first time Damon was speaking about his time spent on the other side.

"I use to make them everyday for B-" And finally Damon had noticed that his brother was on to him, and he almost gave away his secret. Silently he cursed his brother for being so easy to talk too.

"Finish your sentence please." Stefan persuaded, he was almost positive that Damon was going to say he was making pancakes for someone else.

"I use to make them everyday for basic purposes, like trying not to desiccate from boredom." Damon smirked hoping that he had sound convincing enough to throw his brother off track.

"But still-"

"Stefan! I don't really like to dwell about my time in that… _hellhole_." Damon spat quickly to cut Stefan off before this turned into a full-blown interrogation. Stefan wasn't buying it though, there was something about the way Damon said hellhole. The way he hesitated before hand but lingered on the word, made it sound as if he were questioning whether it had been an actual hellhole. Which made Stefan's eyebrows furrow even more in confusion. Had his brother been lying about being stuck in hell, or did he just realize that it was never a hell to begin with? Either way Stefan had a lot of questions bubbling in his head and Damon could almost see the gears churning in his little brothers brain.

"So what's up with you and Blondie?" Damon asked with a façade of innocence as he tried to steer from the subject of his death.

"What?" Stefan said, as he did not expect Damon to bring up Caroline.

"I'm drunk not blind, Stefan. I can tell something is obviously wrong between the two of you. So what happened? Did you cheat on her with Ivy or something?"

"What! Caroline and I aren't dating. And we have never dated."

"Really what's stopping you? I swore I was going to find the two of you all over each other when I got back."

"What do you mean?" Stefan was perplexed he had no idea what the fuck Damon was talking about.

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" Damon asked he had made it pretty clear what he meant.

"I mean, why the heck did you think we we're going to be all over each other?"

"You're kidding right?" Damon chuckled hoping his brother was just joking around, but his chuckle was met with a dead silence.

"Oh my god! You don't know, you really don't know do you?" Damon proceeded to fall into a fit of laughter, this is the funniest thing to happen since he was return, and he so welcomed the warmth of comedy and laughter.

"Don't know what?" Stefan muttered slightly clenching his jaw he didn't like the fact that he was the butt of whatever joke this was.

"That Barbie has a thing for you, and you got a thing for her."

"You're crazy!" Stefan was staring at Damon as if his head just did a full 360 on his neck.

"Look living in denial is never a good thing. I mean look at how many years you were in denial about me being the hotter brother." Damon explained while wriggling his eyebrows at his brother.

"I'm not in denial, me and Caroline are just friends or we use to be."

"Yeah and I'm just moderately good looking."

"It doesn't matter she hates me."

"She doesn't hate you, she hates herself because she's allowed herself to love you enough for you to hurt her. She'll come back."

"_She always came back, all 13 times."_

"How do you know?"

"Because they always do, all 13 times." Damon muttered remembering Kai's words.

"13 times?" Stefan was once again confused with yet more questions.

"Listen you can't let her come back. You have to go after her because… she… loves you." Damon may have been seated in front of his brother but his mind was on another plane entirely as he had come to the realization that Bonnie had grown to love him. Of course she did why else would she sacrifice herself for him, why would she always come back, why did she never give up on him, because she loved him and it had taken him this long to figure it out.

"What are you talking about?"

"Promise me you'll go to her, that you'll win her back!" Stefan was about to argue with him but the Damon had a bittersweet smile on his face and his eyes seemed to be more vivid then ever. His face read that of desperation and Stefan guessed that it must have been because of Elena.

"Ok I promise." Stefan spotted the melancholy that appeared in his brother's eyes at his promise and he found it strange.

"Well then?"

"Oh you want me to go now?"

"Trust me you don't have any time to waste." Damon said stepping out of his seat and dragging his brother by his shirt to the door.

"Damon it's 7:30!"

"Your point being?" Damon said with one last shove, pushing his brother out the door.

"Fine I'll go, but you have to talk to promise you'll talk to Elena today."

"Elena?"

"Yes Elena, the love of your life. She'll be attending a medical fundraiser tonight, so go win her over."

Damon smirked he knew his brother was worried for his well being, so he gave him a small nod of agreement. He had thought about Elena constantly and each time he became slightly more enraged with her decision of erasing him. If the roles were reversed he would have held onto those memories tighter despite the pain they bring, because at the end of the day that would be the only thing he would have of her. But his love for her was still prominent, and he had missed the sight of her face so he decided he will attend this fundraiser and he'll ask her why she did it.

The sun had begun to set, painting the sky with a kaleidoscope of soft colors. There Bonnie stood barefoot on the edge of a rocky cliff that led to a steep fall. The breeze blew through her hair and caused her pink nightgown to rustle against her caramel skin. She held Cuddles by her hand, as they both gazed at the horizon. This had been the worst week of her life, worst then when she was dead. Worst then when she was the anchor, worst then when her Grams or father died. At least then she had other people by her side, people to talk too. But after Kai had left, she had been utterly alone with no voice to hear but her own. She loved Cuddles with all her heart but Cuddles was her silent companion. The silence had consumed her even when she tried playing music it would fade into nothing, she was sure she had gone deaf. She hadn't slept in 3 days, in fact this morning she was tossing and turning in her bed but she had given up and made her way to this spot. She still couldn't believe it had only been a week, it felt like years to her or an eternity. Nothing was tethering her to reality; nothing was tethering her to life. The world was vast and she was small but there was one thing they shared in common they were both empty here. She had lost her sense of rationality, heck she had lost her sense of everything. So she slowly stepped towards the edge of the cliff and glanced down, taking note in how steep the fall was. Her breath hitched in her throat as she estimated the distance, in her perspective it looked like miles. Which brought her satisfaction; she was excited to feel the weightlessness and freedom of falling.

"Are you ready, Cuddles?" She asked not bothering to wait for her response because Cuddles would always agree with her.

"I'm sorry Damon." She whispered into the wind, she could see his silver blue eyes getting angry with her now. She knew he would not approve of this, of her abandoning all hope. He wouldn't approve of her just giving up and dying, especially with all the work he had done to bring her back from the dead. But she couldn't do it anymore, she didn't want to be brave or strong because there was nothing to be strong for. This was the end of the road for her. Bonnie's foot grazed the dirt as she took the final step to the edge.

"_Whatever happened to hope Bon?"_

"Don't you dare take another step!" Bonnie shook her head at the sound of the voice in her head.

"Bonnie! Do not take another step." This voice was different from all the other ones she had attempted to create in her head, it protruded her ears and invaded all her other thoughts. It had this feeling of authenticity, but she brushed it off anyways sure that her imagination had just gotten extremely vivid.

"Bonnie turn around…please." The voice was low now it was almost a growl it had started off in anger but ended with what sounded like desperation. Slowly her head turned, until her vision fell upon a man boy in cargo shorts she had grown all too familiar with.

"Kai?" Now she was sure that he wasn't a figment of her imagination because of the orchestra of voices and images her head had attempted to create none of them were Kai and none of them was this realistic.

"How about you take a step back." His voice strained to be patient.

"How did you find me?" Bonnie asked twirling around to face him, she was on a cliff at sunset, how did he find her?

"You didn't think I'd let you out of my sight, did you?" Kai inched his way to her knowing that she was a ticking time bomb.

"You've been watching me?" Bonnie asked in amazement, how had she not noticed him. Well then again how did both her and Damon not realize that he was lurking beside them for 4 months?

"Of course I was, in the hopes that you might have tried to escape, but instead you decided to lose your marbles."

"There is no escape besides death." Bonnie whispered that was what a little voice had been telling her recently.

"Bonnie Bennett. I thought you were stronger than most, I thought you of all people could fight this. But I guess I was wrong." Kai said with a laugh he had expected her to last longer, he had betted on a month. Thankfully there was no one for him to place that bet against, because he would have lost big time.

"Even the strong fall." Bonnie answered but her focus wasn't on Kai. She had been strong her entire life, it was her time to fall it was only ironic that she planned on doing so literally as well.

"Trust me I know. I warned you about this place didn't I." He had made it so that he was only a yard away from her now.

"Yeah you did." This time she was looking at him her green eyes luminous, possibly due to the fact that the scenery behind her was full of evergreen that only brought her eyes out even more. Kai stopped and stared at her for one second, she was smiling at him. He blinked to check if his eyes were fooling him but no, there she stood defeated as the sun illuminated behind her causing her to glow, with a smile smacked on her face. As much as he wanted to torture her for smiling at him as if she was winning, there was a part of him that just wanted to keep staring, because the image he was witnessing was kinda surreal. But then as a breeze flew through the air raking Bonnie's hair and nightgown his mind clicked.

"Don't fucking do it." She was going to jump he could see it in her eyes, and in the way she inhaled the air as if it were her last breath. He stepped forward and she stepped back, which only caused a growl to settle in his chest.

"It's too late." Then she raised her hands and leaped of the ledge but not even a split second after Kai had jumped towards her hoping he could grab her. Instead he had grabbed on to Cuddles, who Bonnie had in a tight grasp. Now both Kai and Bonnie dangled off the side of the cliff, but Kai's legs still remained on the ground.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that the only way you will die here is when I decide I want to murder you!" Kai exhaled, this was proving to be an exercise. He could see the anger in Bonnie's face he wasn't going to let her get away with this.

"Let go of Cuddles!" She screamed as she saw that Cuddles inseam was slowly starting to rip apart.

"Don't you think it's funny that you value this bear's life more than your own."

"I said let her go!" Frustration was clearly evident on her features.

"No." Kai grinned devishly at her. Bonnie head geared into action, she could just let go of Cuddles but then Cuddles would be stuck with Kai forever and she couldn't do that to Cuddles. She could just set Kai on fire but that might set Cuddles on fire as well. A million ideas ran through her mind at the speed of light until she found one that might work, and how she didn't think of it before astounded her.

"Potest esse impedimentum ad hoc tempus et spatium . Et mitte ibi summa circa aestimationem." Bonnie chanted, she could feel it in her blood that it was working.

"What?"

"Goodbye." Her hand unlatched itself from Cuddles, and a carefree smile appeared as she flew to the ground, Bonnie was finally free. A mangled cry escaped from Kai's chest that echoed through the woods as he watched his last hope of salvation fall, a tear escaped his eye. He heard the thud far below that indicated her body had met the ground below and he sat up on the edge of the cliff when he realized that Cuddles had vanished just like his hope. The sun had finished setting, leaving Kai in the dark crouched over in anguish.

Damon fixed his tie, and stared at his reflection in the window. He looked hot, but then he again what did he expect him and tuxedos were a deadly mixture. He swung the door open; tonight he was going to talk to the love of his life. He spotted Alaric and his new lady love across the room and made his way to them, Elena had yet to arrive.

"Damon, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to win my girl back." Damon said with a wiggle of his brow and then glanced at Jo.

"It's nice to meet you, and I must say you are a vixen in red." Jo smiled she couldn't help but blush a little.

"The infamous Damon Salvatore."

"Infamous?"

"Yes all Alaric has spoken about is your return…from the dead." Damon remained still she knew and that had intrigued her even more. Damon could sense that she was something supernatural herself.

"Well then I do hope I live up to your expectations." Damon said as he gently took her hand and planted a kiss on it.

"You surpass them." Jo's face was crimson red now, despite the fact that her boyfriend stood two feet away. Damon pulled away slowly with a smirk on his face.

"Last time I checked Damon this wasn't your girl." Alaric said putting space in between Jo and Damon.

"Relax Ric. I was checking to see if I still had it and by the look on her face, I do." Damon smirked and patted Alaric's shoulder, if Ric were a teenage girl he would have rolled the shit out of his eyes. But then Damon's smile disappeared because out of his peripheral vision he could see that she had arrived. Quickly spun around to find Elena in a tight black dress across the room. Yeah she was still every much as beautiful as the day he had first met her. He was ready to advance his way to her until he saw a boy take her arm.

"Who is that?"

"That's Liam. Elena's boyfriend." Alaric explained with an ounce of pity. Damon hadn't taken her eyes off of her; of course she didn't want her memories back she had moved on. He watched this Liam guy whisper in her ear, and then he could hear Elena's laughter ringing in his ears. She had never laughed like that with him, he swallowed hard she was happy and who was he to ruin that for her. Before she could land her eyes on him Damon he vanished.

Matt had been on the discovery of something big while he was snooping through Tripp's files until Sarah intruded on him to do some snooping of her own. After awhile of letting her satisfy her curiosity a bit he decided it was time for them to go home. Soon the guilt bit at him and he told her the truth that the Salvatores were alive and that she should distance herself as far as possible from them. He was prepared to tell her more until he heard Jeremy screaming from the next room. He was drunk Matt could smell him from where he stood. He was going on about forgetting Bonnie's pin number. Ultimately he gave up and smashed the glass he was drinking from, cutting his hand. Matt grabbed on to Jeremy before he could hurt himself anymore, and Sarah told him the thing she repeated to herself on a daily basis.

"It's gonna be ok."

"No it's not!" Jeremy yelled at her, and Matt didn't say anything because he couldn't promise him that, he couldn't promise him that it was all going to be ok.

"She's gone. Bonnie's gone." Matt knew she was gone a long time ago, and it had done a number on him too. Bonnie was his best friend and it hurt him to know that he'll never get to see him again, so he did the best only thing he could do and embraced him, the same way he had embraced Bonnie when she was dead and her father had died.

Damon had already downed a whole bottle of vodka, which wasn't nearly as strong as he wanted it to be, but he had already drunk all the bourbon Alaric had to offer. He was glad that Alaric had a fireplace though, because if he didn't where else would he sulk in silence.

"Damon, I thought you were at the fundraiser?" Stefan asked taking his place next to Damon.

"And I thought you were suppose to be winning a certain blonde back." Damon grinned at himself his own snark amused him.

"About that. She didn't take to fondly to the fact that I woke her up."

"What did you tell her?" Damon asked this conversation had piqued his interest more than the vodka he had been drinking.

"I told her that I was sorry about everything. Then she said it was going to take more than an "I'm sorry" to win her back." Stefan reminisced.

"At least you apologized, but I'm guessing that wasn't all of it."

"I asked her to go to the fundraiser with me." Stefan said reluctantly.

"Lemme guess she laughed at you." Damon could only imagine the Barbie's reaction.

"Yeah she did." Stefan chuckled; he knew that she wasn't going to accept his invitation.

"So what did you do?"

"I came with a back plan. I told her that if she wouldn't go with me, she might as well go with someone she does like." Stefan smiled.

"Don't tell me." Damon said with anticipation for the next part of the story although he had a feeling he knew it.

"Enzo. He almost murdered me for waking him up so early but when I told him it was for Caroline, he gladly stood outside her dorm with a bouquet of flowers."

"You know he has a soft spot for the ladies."

"Don't we all." Stefan chuckled and Damon joined him, you would think that the biggest problem for vampires would be the whole burning in the sun and bloodlust thing, but for this group it was the ladies.

"Ain't that the truth brother."

"Speaking of ladies, what happened with your conquest for Elena?" Stefan questioned with curiosity.

"Well I saw her." Damon said bringing up the image of her walking in to the building.

"And?"

"And that's it."

"What do you mean that's _it_?" Stefan asked wondering if he had been missing something.

"I saw her, and then I left." Damon said as it were obvious.

"Why?" Stefan's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Because she was…happy." Damon whispered as he recalled her laughter ringing in his ears.

"So…" Stefan continued wondering what his brother would do next.

"So, I let her go." Damon glared at the flames in the fireplace as Stefan's face turned blank that was the last thing he ever expected Damon to say. Suddenly he felt proud of him, he was proud that his brig brother was capable of doing something selfless. A small smile appeared on his face, and he was glad Damon wasn't looking at him. But Damon didn't have to look at him to know that his baby brother was proud of him, and a part of him smiled along with his brother. The fact that he had made Stefan proud of him, made Damon feel something, considering in over a 100 years he had not done anything for Stefan to respect him.

"Isn't it funny? That after years of fighting over the same girl, neither of us ended up with her." Damon laughed and Stefan couldn't help but laugh along with him, the irony of the matter was far too funny, and for a second they were human again. When there laughter died down, they sat still and watched the flames together and Damon was glad he had his brother by his side, he could lose everything but as long as he had his brother there would be hope that soon everything will be ok.

"I have to tell you something." Damon figured it's about time he told his brother the truth.

"What brother?" Stefan smiled still giddy from the laughter of earlier.

"It's about the Other Side."

"We don't have to talk about it." His giddiness had left and was replaced with concern.

"But I want to." Damon said and he did, in fact he's been dying to confess everything, since the second he returned.

"Well then I'm listening." And Stefan was, he knew that this had been tough for Damon but the curiosity was killing him. Damon hesitated not knowing where to begin.

"I lied to everyone." He had decided that this was the best way to start.

"Lied?" Stefan questioned considering Damon's story seemed very honest.

"I wasn't alone." A pair of green eyes infiltrated his mind she was looking at him and he was looking at her.

"I know that. You said this Kai guy was there."

"No I mean there was someone else. Someone who had been there with me from the beginning." Then he saw her whole face, her sharp eyebrows, heart shaped lips, and pointy chin.

"Who?" Stefan asked leaning into his seat, all his attention focused on Damon. Damon finally ripped his eyes away from the fireplace and stared at his brother.

"Bonnie." The image of her was clear now she was frustrated with him as usual when he said something stupid.

"But you said, you didn't see her." Stefan said trying to understand.

"Like I said I lied. When the other side was crashing down, we held each others hand awaiting whatever the light would bring us. But instead it transported us to this other dimension that caused us to relive the same day over and over again. I gave up hope of ever finding a way out immediately but Bonnie…Bonnie never gave up." Damon's eyes were ablaze with an emotion Stefan could not place.

"_You hear that Damon that's what hope sounds like." _

"Then why aren't we trying to get her out." Stefan said abruptly standing to his feet. After everything Bonnie had done for them, they owed it to her to bring her back.

"Because she _died._" Damon choked out that was the first time he had said it out loud and he decided that will also be the last. He avoided his brother's eyes and found himself staring at the flames again. Each flame radiant, as they danced together in harmony and somehow the hearth made him think of Bonnie.

"_Stay away from him!"_

"What do you mean she died, you guys were already dead." Stefan said staring at Damon, who seemed pretty content with the fire.

"Leave it to Bonnie to find a way to die while already being dead right?" Damon chuckled softly but it sounded more like a cry.

"_I'm not going to make it. But you are."_

"What happened?"

"She sacrificed herself for me, so that I could make it back." Damon muttered.

"Sacrificed?" Stefan knew Bonnie only sacrificed herself for the ones she loved, so that could only mean one thing. That in their time there she had grown to love Damon.

"We were seconds away from making it back together, but Kai shot her with an arrow." Damon flinched at the memory that was still fresh in his mind.

"I didn't get time to heal her because she wanted me to stop Kai from getting out. But I could have care less now if he made it out, if it meant that she was still alive! I told her to go, to leave, to make it back. But instead she sent me!" Damon threw the empty bottle of vodka at the fire, causing the fire to ignite. A tear found his way down his cheek, and Stefan finally figured out the emotion he couldn't place. It was love, Damon had grown to love Bonnie too, and now she was gone. Stefan wrapped his arms around him, and at first Damon stood motionless but gradually his arms wrapped around Stefan. Damon deepened the hug; he wasn't going to be the first to let him go.

"I told her to go." Damon whispered.

"I know you did." Stefan said rubbing the back of Damon's head.

"Why did she save me?" Stefan pulled back, only holding to Damon's shoulders.

"She did it out of love Damon." There it was that word love again, and all he could think was how could it even be possible that Bonnie love him. Him, the man who had caused her so much pain. He, who never believed in her when all she wanted was for him to have a little faith.

"_I'm sure they are about a billion people you would rather be here with."_

"_Not exactly."_

"But I'm not the one who deserved to be saved." Damon confessed and Stefan was about to tell him how he deserved to live as well, and how much he needed his big brother because without him he's lost, until there was an abrupt knock at the door. Stefan wanted to keep holding on to his brother and forget whoever was knocking. But the knocking continued to get louder and more violent, Damon nodded allowing Stefan to answer the door. Stefan swiftly made his way to the door and unlocked it, to find Matt and a girl propping up an intoxicated Jeremy.

"What are you guys doing here?" Stefan asked bewildered and the threesome barged in dropping Jeremy on to a nearby couch.

"We need your help. Well Jeremy needs your help." Matt huffed glad he could finally stretch his back. The girl moved towards the kitchen deciding to lay low by leaning against the counter.

"He wouldn't be Jeremy if he didn't need help." Damon chuckled as he reached for another drink. Stefan glanced at his brother and saw that his brother had resorted to his usual self. It was almost frightening how fast Damon could snap his mask back into place.

"What's the problem?" Stefan said crossing his arms as he usually did when about to solve problems.

"Jeremy is losing his mind so we were thinking if one of you could erase his memories of her." Matt explained, and waited for them to precede erasing Jeremy's memories.

"Her?" Damon questioned as if he didn't know whom they were asking about, but he knew very well who they spoke of.

"Bonnie, he wants to erase Bonnie." Matt said he didn't like it but the way Jeremy was acting it didn't look like they had another choice. In

"We can't do that." Stefan said without an explanation, surprising Damon.

"Why not, Elena did it." Matt asked in confusion. He was already not thrilled to be in the presence of the Salvatores considering they murdered all his childhood friends the least they could do was help Jeremy.

"And look how well that worked out." Stefan said pointing towards Damon.

"Yeah but Bonnie's never gonna come back." Jeremy muttered as he tried to gather himself off the couch, and used all his effort to trudge toward Stefan. He didn't notice that at his statement Damon turned to face the fire once again.

"Jeremy I'm sorry-"

"No Stefan, you don't understand it's torture and I don't think I can do it anymore. Please!" Jeremy begged, falling to his knees. Stefan was overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol it being a 100x stronger to his vampire senses. The girl at the kitchen counter exhaled deeply as she heard the name of the person Jeremy begged too.

"I'm sorry but I'm not going to do it." Stefan finished, hoping that was the end of the conversation. Jeremy searched Stefan's eyes and saw that he would find no salvation in them so he turned and crawled to Damon.

"Damon please you've done it before." Jeremy begged once again. Damon laughed as he turned around to face Jeremy's puppy face. This time the girl's eyes bulged open as she fully realized whom she was in the presence of.

"I'm not going to help you."

"What?" Jeremy asked stunned he thought Damon of all people would more than gladly erase his memory. Damon crouched down to get to Jeremy's level as he stared into the brown eyes of the boy he basically fathered only a year ago. Despite the altercations they've had Damon didn't hate the boy, so he was going to talk to him from one drunk to another.

"I know it hurts, but that's life. I know we tend to forget that because everyone who dies here can be brought back with some ludicrous plan. But in reality people die, and they don't come back and you just have to learn to live with it. Because that's the only thing you can do." Damon spoke from experience, it was about time these people heard the truth.

"But-" Damon grabbed the back of Jeremy's neck and pulled him in to make sure that he was listening to the words he was about to speak.

"But nothing. You will hold on to the memories, because it's all that's left of her. And you will not let go of them because if you do, it'll be like she never lived at all. And I know that we failed to appreciate her and everything she's did for us, but now is the time to honor her. She deserves that much, she deserves to be remembered." Damon glared at the boy before him and watched him become a man, as he rose to the occasion. Jeremy nodded his head and lifted himself off the ground, Damon along with him. A small smirk played on Damon's lips as they arrived to the same level. Matt was stunned silent and Stefan's chest puffed with pride.

"Well that was touching." The girl said sarcastically from the kitchen counter, she could only dream of having memories of her parents.

"Whose the girl?" Damon snarled without turning around, he could see the blood rise to Jeremy's face and knew that his explanation wasn't going to be one he liked.

"The name is Sarah. Sarah Salvatore I guess." She shrugged with an attempt at being nonchalant. At her declaration both brothers' heads snapped in her direction, Stefan spoke first.

"That's impossible." Stefan said as he studied the girl with intensity. Damon on the other hand wasn't looking at her; he was looking at something else. Something that didn't belong there, something he hadn't seen in a while.

"That's impossible." Damon echoed as he made his way to the kitchen counter.

"Yeah he kinda already said that." Sarah moved with fear that he was coming for her. But he wasn't going after her; he was going for the thing that sat behind the pancake mix. His eyes kept blinking like rapid fire in doubt at what he saw before him. He touched it, a sigh of relief escaped his lungs. He couldn't help but smile as he brought it to his chest and inhaled it almost as if he could breath in the hope it represented. Damon didn't notice or care about all the eyes he had him on now, because he had something far more important. He had Cuddles.

**So what do you think, did it suck ass? If so let me now and I am deeply sorry. Oh and another thing I swear to you I did not rip off Cuddles coming back from TVD, I kinda figured it was going to happen which is why I called it while watching the show, plus I had already wrote Cuddles coming back when it happened. The spell she said went something like, "Don't let this object be bound by the barriers of time or space. Let it find a home where it will be the most appreciated." Ok I'm going to shut the fuck up, I hope you guys have a bomb-errific week, peace out!**


	3. The Shining

So after 3 weeks of staring at a blank computer screen and writing a sentence like every 5 hours I have finally finished the 3rd chapter. Also there will be a lengthy flashback :}

**Previously on my version of The Vampire Diaries: Kai loses all hope when Bonnie falls to her death on The Other Side. Damon was faced with what he thought he was impossible a family member. And he ultimately gains all the hope he would he ever need in the form of a bear.**

Damon didn't have the patience to deal with whatever fiasco was about to occur, because he had more pressing matters to concern himself with. Like the aspect of how Cuddles came to be, he needed the room to be empty so that he can think in privacy. So he cleared the room the only way he knows how, by letting his fangs drop and veins illuminate underneath his eyes.

"I've decided that I'm very hungry and it's about time I drink from the source." And just as he expected he heard a squeal, he didn't even bother to look Sarah in the face.

"What are you doing Damon?" Stefan asked appalled.

"I suggest everyone leave the premises if they enjoy the blood pumping through their veins." Damon voiced the emptiest threat of his life. It almost saddened him how easy it was to convince them that he would murder all of them. They had grown to expect this behavior from him because he was a monster who loved to torment others. Heck even his brother believed that he would slaughter all of them without an afterthought. Within seconds the trio was gone as to be expected, and he was left with only Stefan and Cuddles. Damon turned around slowly and looked his disapproving brother in the eye.

"She's alive."

"Who?" Stefan asked still a bit irked Damon had threatened to kill Matt and the lot of them considering he knew Matt was having a hard time as of late.

"Bonnie."

"What do you mean Bonnie's alive, you just told me she was dead." Stefan asked perplexed his eyebrows furrowing more than ever.

"I thought she was dead. But Cuddles…" Damon said taking a strong whiff of her, she smelt of fire and honey. She smelt exactly like Bonnie, in fact the scent brought up the image of her owner once again.

"I'm assuming Cuddles is the teddy bear you seem to have a crush on." Stefan said slyly, still not buying this Bonnie being alive story. When just a second ago he was so sure of her death.

"Yes and you can call her Ms. Cuddles." Damon retorted, still very much captivated by the magnificent teddy bear before him.

"Uh huh and because of this teddy- I mean Ms. Cuddles I'm suppose to believe that Bonnie is alive?" Stefan asked sure that Damon had finally lost all his marbles.

"Yes, because this is Bonnie's bear!" Damon growled getting fed up with Stefan's stupid questions.

"Ok, then how did it get here?" Stefan asked still doubtful.

"I don't know, she must have sent it to me or something." Damon said not sure how it got here himself, considering the whole different dimension thing.

"If Bonnie could do this why wouldn't she have done this sooner, like when you were stuck there together?" Stefan asked yet another question.

"She didn't have her magic, wait why are you asking all these questions? Just a moment ago you were all high and dandy about finding a way to save her. And now that I tell you she's actually alive, you don't believe me." Damon asked, his face perplexed as he awaited his little brother's response.

" I just don't want you get to your hopes up." Stefan could see how much it meant to Damon the possibility that Bonnie was still alive, but he didn't want him to get his hopes only for them to be crushed once again.

"Look I know it sounds weird, but there was this part of me that didn't feel right ever since I left Bonnie there. At first I thought it was because of her death, but now I'm thinking it's because maybe I left her there alive." Which Damon knew was far worst because who knew what Kai is capable of? Stefan eyed his brother meaningfully and clasped his shoulder.

"I understand, but I still say we get this bear checked out." Stefan said offering a smile.

"Fine if it makes you sleep better at night we'll have Liv or Luke take a look at her. But I'm telling you she's alive I can feel it." Damon smirked at the bear, he wasn't talking baloney he honestly felt that somewhere in this universe Bonnie was alive because there was no possible way she could be dead.

"Ok, wait what happened to her?" Stefan pointed at the Ms. Cuddles outer arm to see that her inseam was broken and some stuffing was falling out. Damon saw it and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head, Bonnie would never let this happen to her. Heck she wouldn't even let Damon touch the dang thing, so it clearly meant that something had gone wrong.

"We have to go now!" Damon said rushing Stefan to the door, they had to get to Liv pronto! The door then busted open and in came Alaric looking like he just got laid. Damon quickly moved past him shoving Alaric out of the way.

"Hey what's happening?" Alaric asked noting the urgency in Damon's demeanor.

"Apparently we got ourselves a teddy bear emergency." Stefan explained leaving Alaric quite confused.

After hours passed Kai finally composed himself. He would find another plan, another way because there was no way he will be stuck here for eternity. He trudged his way downhill slowly making his way to the site of Bonnie's death. Hoping that at least the site of her blood will please him but he knew, inside it wouldn't because Bonnie was his last chance at getting the fuck out of here. He mentally beat himself for not thinking of a different plan. He thought she would come to him for company when she finally lost it but he should have known better the girl was too damn proud. She was to damn proud to allow herself to spend time with him even if it meant her sanity, her survival. Then it finally hit him Bonnie didn't care much for her survival at all, she only cared for others. She cared for Damon's survival and the second he was gone all that hope she yammered on about disappeared and she gladly welcomed death. He should have known when she tried to die in the hospital that it was too easy she truly wanted to die before solitude, imagine after it. How could he have not thought this through? He who thought everything through? He who thinks of everything down to the last excruciating detail? How did he not see the huge gaping hole in his plan why did he think that Bonnie was not capable of her own demise? What had he seen in her, that made him think otherwise? His thoughts disappeared when he had finally made it to the site of her death. There she lied in a pool of her own blood and to Kai's surprise he laughed. It was a genuine laughter that he hadn't felt in the longest of times, it rang against the dark of night. He laughed until he was on his knees begging for air, he had never felt such joy in his entire life. No kill, no cry for help, not anything compared to this spectacular moment. He had tears in his eyes when he finally settled himself from laughing, and crawled over to Bonnie's body and smiled in anticipation. Her body was regenerating, as his usually did when he attempts to kill himself. Her shattered skull had been rebuilding itself, her broken bones realigning themselves. Kai watched over her as if waiting for a Christmas present as her regeneration was coming to an end. Soon her brunette hair started to grow back from her bald scalp, and her jaw snapped back into place. He waited silently because she was complete once again, now he just needed her to wake up. After a while passed he checked to see if her heart was beating and it was, beautifully if he might add. He never thought he would be glad to hear the sound of someone's heartbeat but he was, he was more than glad it brought him utter joy to hear the sound of hope again.

"What the fuck!" Bonnie screamed she was revived at last. Kai moved his face off her chest to analyze her face, and sure enough there was a fire in her eyes. A fire he had seen all to many times in his own eyes. A fire created from the fact that there was no easy way out that this was their eternity. Kai laughed once again, he always did forget the difference between what was funny and what was sad. He lied beside her laughing his ass off. Bonnie sat up in her pool of blood to stare at him, as he laughed maniacally, while lying in her blood.

"What the hell is so damn funny?" She didn't enjoy being laughed at especially when she was on the verge of a breakdown; Kai took a couple of deep breaths before he could finally speak.

"This entire situation."

"How is this funny?" Bonnie asked as Kai began to look pensive while he started waving his arms up and down against the ground, while opening his legs and closing them.

"Well I just find it funny, that everyone always says that if you are good, good things will come to you but if you're bad, bad things will happen. Because that's how the world works and that's karma for you. But here we are the both of us stuck in the same situation. You being all that is good and I being what they call evil, and yet here we are both suffering the same exact punishment." Bonnie lied back down because his words were hitting her hard. It was nowhere close to fair that she was trapped here reliving the same day over and over again.

"I must be losing my mind, because you seem to be speaking the truth."

"I am speaking the truth, because we're living proof. And do you want to know something else?" Kai paused his motions to glance at her, half his face imprinting itself in her blood. Bonnie turned to glance back at him, "What?"

"It's all a crock of bullshit. Everyone constantly tells you that if you're a saint everything will work out in your favor. And it's all a lie whatever happens to you will happen to you, no matter if you have a lust for murder or a heart bursting with sunshine." Bonnie swallowed she always looked out for everyone else in fact that's the very reason she was stuck here. Always saving everyone besides herself, and what did it get her? Nothing, here she was stuck for eternity because she decided to be selfless. She was done being a martyr.

"You're right." Bonnie said turning back to face the sky, and she too started waving her arms and legs against the ground. Kai never looked so satisfied because that was the first time he ever heard someone say he was right, and he joined Bonnie as they waved there arms together.

"So don't you think it's about time you become a little selfish, after all this is your life." Kai said staring up into the starry night sky along with her. Maybe it was because she had died just a few hours ago, maybe it was because her brain wasn't fully developed yet, and maybe it was because the thousands of stars distracted her, or maybe she just officially lost her mind. But Bonnie answered, "Yes it is about time." And in that moment Kai knew he had her convinced. They continued their activity for a while until finally, Kai got up first. And Bonnie followed shortly after, and looked down at the ground.

"Now that's what I call art." Kai explained as they stared down at the two blood angels on the ground, Bonnie's being a lot smaller in size. He grinned as he saw the blood angels, usually he only looked down at one but today there were two side by side. Logically thinking it was creepy that they both basically bathed in her blood but since she threw hersanity into the wind she thought it was actually kinda cute. And a small smile played on her lips and Kai couldn't help but be attracted. Even though all her hair was matted to her head with copious amounts of blood, and her dress was no longer a baby pink but a shredded tie-dye of pink and burgundy, he had never found her hotter.

"Come on kid, I'm going to teach you how to survive." Kai said walking away and Bonnie followed.

"Wait but before that there is something I have to do." Kai said stepping back and closing the space between them as he clasped her chin in his hand and craned his neck. Her breath caught in her throat as he scanned her blood stained face viciously. Even her lips had blood on them and he wasn't a vampire but he could definitely see the appeal. His lips lingered and then broke out into a smile and in half a second he snapped her neck.

"That's for not listening when I told you, I decide whether you get to die." He explained to no one as he hoisted her body over his shoulder and walked off into the night.

As Stefan drove through twilight, Damon inspected Cuddles to see the damage she had done to her but he had another question on his mind.

"Stefan, what was that girl talking about earlier?"

"What girl?" Stefan said eyeing Damon.

"That girl Matt brought with him, that Sarah girl." Damon asked still not looking at Stefan because he didn't want to let him now how much that specific situation was perplexing him. Stefan's face hardened as he returned his gaze to the road.

"What about that girl?"

"Why did she say her last names Salvatore, I mean that's impossible right?" Damon questioned because both he and Stefan had done extensive research on their family line and he knew the line had ended with Zach. No thanks to him nonetheless, and there it was gnawing at him that guilt he had over the years, and the guilt he relieved everyday while he was stuck in 94. Suddenly he found that he had an urge for pancakes again.

"She's obviously lying Damon. Don't you think we would have known if we had any missing relatives." Stefan chuckled and Damon chuckled too, of course the whole idea of it was ludicrous they were century year old vampires for god sake.

"Yeah you're right, it's impossible." Damon replied finally looking at Stefan the only family he'd ever have. After there chuckle died down it was quiet again, and as much as Damon wanted he couldn't shake it from his mind. Sarah Salvatore it had a nice ring to it, hypothetically he could have been her uncle. Her very cool uncle while Stefan would have been the strict father figure type.

"It would have been cool though." Damon whispered into the air that rushed in from the window, they were almost at Whitmore.

"What would have been?" Stefan said softly.

"You know having a niece or something." Damon shrugged nonchalantly. Stefan snapped his neck to look at him, he was having a hard time trying to decipher him.

"I would never think you a family man, considering you're a lone wolf Damon." He didn't like being a lone wolf he would much prefer the company of his friends and family, if he had any.

"I was just saying it would have been cool."

"How cool would it have been to let our hypothetical niece suffer along with us, in this crazy town?" Stefan chuckled but there was an edge to his voice.

"Yeah you're right, nobody else should have to deal with all the crap we deal with here. But maybe if we did have family, we wouldn't have to be here."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying what's stopping us from leaving this town? Neither of us are with Elena anymore and no one will really miss us."

"Damon are you getting soft on me?" Stefan grinned.

"No I'm still as hardcore as I was yesterday. I'm just saying after we get Bonnie back, what's stopping us from leaving this place?" Damon said gazing at his brother.

"Wait you're serious?" Stefan asked his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to understand his brother.

"Yes I'm as serious as your brooding face. You were trying to start a new life while I was gone, how bout we try starting a new life now that I'm here." Damon looked at him he was sick of the havoc Mystic Falls had to offer; in fact he's never felt more at peace then when he was playing human alongside Bonnie in 1994 despite it being his personal "hell". He regretted that now constantly saying that was his personal hell even though he had never felt such serenity in his whole life. He regretted telling Bonnie she was useless, and that she'll never get her powers. He regretted not believing in her at all when she had proven herself time and time again. He then stared at Cuddles and made himself a vow that when he brought Bonnie back he would never doubt her again.

"Damon, even if I were to agree to this and run away with you to somewhere far away. I have a feeling you won't want to leave, once she returns." Damon opened his mouth to retaliate wondering exactly what his brother thought had happened between him and Bonnie on the other side. But he quickly shut it as no words had come out, yet. Damon didn't even know what happened between him and Bonnie. If he had to put a label on their relationship, he wouldn't have the damnest clue what to say. He was sure they were somewhere in the friend category but what type of friends were they? Would he consider her a best friend? And now that he thought about it of course she was his best friend, she knew everything there was to know about him. Heck she might even know more than Stefan did. And someone with that much information on him had to be his best friend in the whole world or else she was a threat. But there was a time when he could picture Bonnie killing him heck she had tried to multiple times but now he was sure that she would never. In fact she would protect him as he would her. So the real question here, was what is Damon to Bonnie? Stefan raised a brow as he watched the gears in Damon's head turn.

"It's complicated." Damon huffed, as that was the only way he could explain it.

"It always is." Stefan grinned and Damon wished he could wipe the little smug look off his face.

Her eyes fluttered wide open, as she inhaled life into her lungs yet again. Bonnie got up quickly she was lying on the Salvatore sofa in front of the fireplace.

"Oh goody it's nice to see you're finally up from your little nap, suppers' on the table." Kai said without looking up from the book he was reading, as he sat quite comfortably in a lavish armchair.

"Why you little-"

"I suggest you stock up on your energy, because you're going to need it." Kai said cutting her off.

"Why did you kill me?" Bonnie growled, as she rubbed her neck still sore from it cracking. Kai paused and gazed at her for a second.

"You know you're cute when you're angry." Kai grinned; she was still covered in blood. He figured if he had bothered to clean her, she would have probably flayed him alive. Plus he likes her covered in blood anyways it made her look as tainted on the outside as he was on the inside. Bonnie swore she'd set him on fire, right after she finally showered and changed. The nightgown she had on barely covered anything considering it was completely shredded. She got up to and headed her way towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To clean myself, in case you haven't noticed I'm covered in blood." Bonnie cracked sarcastically.

"Oh trust me I've noticed, but I want you to eat supper first." Kai said plainly after casting a small glimpse at her.

"I don't care about what you want. I'm going to take a shower." Bonnie finished with a huff and swerved back to her original direction.

"I strongly suggest you eat supper first." Kai said but there was a darkness to his voice this time. Bonnie reversed herself and made her way to him in a swift motion.

"Are you threatening me?" Bonnie questioned him, her demeanor ready to swing a fist if needed.

"Call it whatever you want,_ babe_. Just know that if you don't eat your supper first there will be consequences." Kai explained without so much as a blink, as he continued to read.

"First of all never call me _babe_ again. Second just because I agreed to you "teaching me how to survive" doesn't mean I'm going to put up with your shit. Because you do not own me." Bonnie growled inches away from his face, if she was going to live her own life, she was done taking orders.

"First off I don't know what this means, but I'm not sure I like it." Kai said attempting to mimic Bonnie's air quotation marks.

"Second of all, I will be teaching you the 7 Lessons to Survival. Essentially giving you the cheat codes to life. Lastly, I'm in charge whether you like it or not. So go eat your supper. _Babe_." Kai said accepting her challenge and closing in on the space between them. Bonnie glared into his grey eyes, and she could see that this was all some big game to him. So she raised her chin and smiled.

"Fine, I'll go eat supper." Bonnie turned towards the kitchen this time. For a second, Kai's face fell in disappointment, but then turned upright once again because he was and would always be the one in charged. He sat down and began to read his book again. Shortly after Bonnie came back with her plate of spaghetti, and decided to sit on his lap. It was quite out of her comfort zone but she wanted to play along. Kai was surprised to say the least but quickly accommodated her.

"I'm so glad to see you finally saw my way."

"Well you are in charge. Right?" Bonnie said stabbing her fork into her spaghetti and spinning it around.

"That is correct." Kai stated while licking his lips.

"Eat this for me? I want to make sure it's not poisoned." Bonnie begged holding the fork up to his mouth. Kai rolled his eyes they had been through this before, but he did like the idea of being fed. So he allowed her too, all the while not breaking eye contact with her. Bonnie swiftly put her hand under her plate to grab something.

"Don't forget to swallow." She strained each syllable without ever breaking contact with him. He made a show of swallowing and that's went she went for it. She pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the throat. Immediately blood began to pour as he made incoherent sounds, trying to yank the knife out.

"Like I said, never call me babe." Bonnie smiled as she got up and placed her plate of spaghetti to the side. Out of curiosity she lifted the book he was reading to see the title. There on the cover in black letters read **The Shining**. And she couldn't help but laugh.

"Figures." Then she danced her way to the bathroom, as Kai ruined the precious carpet from bleeding to death.

Damon banged on the door of Liv's dorm room for the umpteenth time. Until he finally heard steps on the other side of the door; that had yet to be opened.

"Somebody better be dying or I swear to god!" Liv croaked as she swung open the door. If her mane was unruly before, it had definitely taken a life of its own now.

"Wow I never thought I'd see a lion this up close." Damon exclaimed at the site of her mane and attempted to pet it, but she growled.

"What the hell do you guys want?" Liv asked she hadn't spoken to the pair of brothers in almost a year.

"Sorry my brother here has never been to good with manners. We need your help." Stefan said with his usual charm.

"I wasn't offering any." Liv said already closing the door on them, but Damon pushed his arm against it, leaving a small space open.

"Listen Goldilocks I know it's late but I need your help…please." Liv was intrigued to say the least considering the last time Damon wanted something out of her he had decided to torture her. But now he was begging so she opened the door. Damon and Stefan entered both surprised that Damon's tactic had actually worked.

"You guys are lucky my roommate isn't here."

"This roommate of yours won't be coming back anytime soon, will she?" Stefan inquired worried that she might walk in on whatever they'll be doing.

"No she usually doesn't come back when she goes out to bang her boyfriend." Stefan didn't have much of a reply to that, but the subject of sex did bring a somber smirk to Damon's features.

"So what exactly do guys need me for, and what's with the teddy bear?" Liv wondered as she saw how Damon had a tight grasp on it.

"Actually that's what we need help with. This teddy bear was sent to us from what we believe is another dimension." Stefan explained.

"And her name is Ms. Cuddles." Damon expressed pointedly.

"Whoa way to get all Interstellar on me." Liv joked she wasn't sure if there were other dimensions in the universe but she was willing to go along with their story.

"I'm sorry what?" Damon asked not having the slightest clue what she was talking about.

"The movie with Matthew McConaghey in space?" Liv implored considering the movie was pretty successful.

"In case you've forgotten I've been dead for the past 5 months. " Damon feigned a smile, how was it possible that people managed to forget this.

"Yeah sorry about that." Liv admitted she had felt guilty for not being able to save him when they lost The Other Side.

"You know what I forgive you, as long as you help us out." Damon said and he meant it. If she had performed the spell long enough to save him then Bonnie would have been left alone. Stefan raised his brow at him and Damon mentally told him to shut the hell up.

"Ok, so what do you want me to do, a flash before the eyes spell?" Liv said, she considered it to be the perfect spell for this ordeal.

"What exactly does this spell entail?" Stefan wondered considering he never heard of the spell before.

"Basically it's a spell that allows us to see the life span of the object as it flashes before our eyes." Liv explained with ease considering everything was basically suggested in the title.

"Yeah that would be perfect." Damon smirked because the faster he satisfied Stefan's need to confirm Bonnie's living the closer he would be to saving her. Even though Damon had already confirmed it to himself, she was alive and no one can tell him otherwise. Liv nodded and went to set up her witchy woo woo things, after a few minutes she was ready.

"Hand me the bea- I mean Ms. Cuddles." Liv corrected herself while leaving her hand out awaiting Cuddles.

"Be careful with her." Damon warned handing her the bear, Liv was the first person he had allowed to hold it beside himself. She placed the bear on top of her witchy woo woo symbol and all the candles in the room light.

"Now each one of you hold on to a part of the ted- Ms. Cuddles. If you want to see what happened." Liv said placing her hand on Ms. Cuddles head, Stefan nodded in understanding as he grabbed on to one of Cuddles' legs.

"Wait, before you start you have to swear that whatever you see here you speak of to no one." Damon demanded he didn't want her spreading the word about Bonnie, and he also didn't want to hear her shedding light on the time he spent with Bonnie.

"Okay." Liv hesitated know unsure of what she was getting herself into and what this bear had seen.

"Swear to me." Damon countered.

"I swear." Liv responded with the same amount of urgency as him. Damon had no choice but to take her word and then he latched himself onto Cuddles' arm. Liv closed her eyes and began to chant.

"Vitam ante oculos mico me. Vitam ante oculos mico me. Vitam ante oculos mico me." The candle lights burned brighter then ever, and a breeze brushed through the witch's mane or at least attempted too. And then it began. Damon was no longer in Liv's dorm room he was inside a box. He couldn't move, of course he couldn't move because technically he was a stuffed bear.

_ Then the top of the box began to rattle and he was yanked out, where he now stared at a pair of emerald eyes he could recognize anywhere. The person holding him was a little girl who had the biggest curly hair. She had to be around 2 years old and her smile was absolutely infectious._

"_Mommy, Daddy I love it!" She squealed as she ran to her hug both her parents._

"_I'm glad you do baby." Her father laughed as he saw how much joy it brought his daughter._

"_Now what are you going to name it?" Her mom smiled running her hand through the little girl's hair._

"_MMmhmm." The little girl frowned as she scrunched up her little nose, deep in thought, her parents giggling at her expression. But that didn't faze the little girl as she looked Damon straight in the eyes and then broke out in a wide smile._

"_I'm gonna name her Ms. Cuddles! And I'm never gonna let her go." The little girl proclaimed as she hugged Damon aka Cuddles tightly. Damon couldn't help but smile._

_Then memories flashed by of the little girl playing with Cuddles and taking her everywhere she went. Everyday she would wake up and poke Ms. Cuddles to see if she was awake and every night she would whisper good night to her in her ear. One of her favorite things to do was have tea parties with her, while the little girl dressed up in her Mommy's heels. She would serve Cuddles tea and then dance to her Daddy's Walkman. She even took Cuddles with her when her and her mother would do gardening. Although her mom told her that she should leave Cuddles inside because she'll get dirty. The little girl was a ball of energy but when it came to gardening with her mother, she was always calm. She loved watching the flowers grow it always surprised her how rapid the orchids grew and she claimed it was all magic and her mother would just laugh. Many nights her and Cuddles would sit on her father's lap and hear stories about this world and different worlds. One of her favorite stories he read to her was called Walk Two Moons. On the weekends she would either sleep over her Grams. Where she stuffed her face silly with an assortment of cookies, and they would watch the night sky together and see the stars dance. Or she would spend it at one of her friends' houses where they just chatted away on the porch or had intense pillow fights. And before Damon knew it the girl was a day away from turning 6. As she so constantly reminded him, because that little girl could talk the ear off of anyone. She had spent the day in excitement because tomorrow was her birthday and she was gonna have lots of cake. Right now the little girl was asleep considering it had to be past midnight. Her mother crept in and she had a jacket on as if she was going somewhere. Her mom sat down next to her and ran her hand through the girl's curly hair gently as she always did. They were tears in the woman's eyes. Damon now knew what was coming next._

"_Bonnie, Mommy's got something to tell you. I'm leaving trust me not because I want to but because I have too. I don't want you to ever think I'm leaving because of you. Ok because that's a lie and it will always be a lie. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever planted and watched grow. No flower compares to you, because you are magic baby. You always have been. Now I want you to keep on dreaming and remember nothing can limit you not even the sky. " The mother whispered lovingly in to the little girl's ear. Then she kissed the little girl's forehead as tears cascaded down her face. "One last thing, Mommy loves you." The lady smiled broken heartedly as she made her departure but before did she lay a single orchid on Cuddles ear for the little girl to find. But the little girl had yet to awaken until she heard the sound of screaming downstairs. She grabbed Cuddles and ran to the top of the stairs as she watched the door slam and her mother disappear. _

"_Mommy!" The little girl cried as she ran down the steps._

"_Honey, you're supposed to be sleeping." Her father's voice hoarse and tears in his eyes._

"_Daddy, where'd Mommy go?" The little girl sobbed into his shoulder. But the Dad couldn't find it in him to answer; he just walked up the stairs, stroking her back along the way. But the little girl kept on repeating the same question over and over for what Damon later learned was for months until she realized that she'll never get an answer._

"_It's ok, baby. It's ok, baby. It'll all be better in the morning." He said as he rocked her back and forth and she held on to the orchid she had found. But it wasn't better it wasn't ever better. Eventually the little girl stopped asking about her Mom and she stopped going to her mother's greenhouse. And her Dad stopped reading to her and went out of town a lot. She found herself sleeping over her Grams and her friends frequently. One day when she was 9, her little blonde best friend was throwing one of her many sleepover parties, and Bonnie was getting ready to go to sleep._

"_Don't you think you're a little to old to sleep with Cuddles? I mean I don't even play with dolls anymore." The little blonde girl in the tiara said._

"_Leave her alone Caroline, if she wants to sleep with Cuddles she can sleep with Cuddles." A little girl with long brunette hair said from her sleeping bag._

"_Thanks Elena." The little girl smiled at the brunette._

"_What are best friends for?" Elena smiled back._

"_Hey I'm her best friend too, I'm just saying we're third graders now and teddy bears are totally first grade." Caroline said while shoving herself in her sleeping bag and Elena and the little girl rolled their eyes and laughed. _

_The next day the little girl had a chat with Cuddles, as she sat him on her bed._

"_Cuddles I'm sorry but you heard what Caroline said. Teddy bears are totally first grade. I mean you remember when everyone brought their teddy bears to class, now I'm the only one who stills brings you everywhere. I mean for godsakes I'm a third grader now; we have to be mature about this. Now don't get all mopey on me." She said crossing her arms as she always did. But after awhile she cracked and sat next to Cuddles on the bed._

"_Look it's not you, it's me. I still love you but like Grams says too much of something is a bad thing. And we can always hang out after school." She finished as she just orchestrated her first break up. At first she couldn't help but sneak Cuddles in her backpack from time to time. But slowly she forgot Cuddles especially after she became a cheerleader. Then at long last her father came home one day and noticed Cuddles was left in the pantry after Bonnie went to answer the phone 6 months ago. He decided to pack him up and send him to the land of forgotten toys, which was a box in the basement downstairs. Then in a flash Cuddles was sitting having a tea party again, as if the little girl were two again. Except no one was there. Cuddles was left alone for decades. Until the day, they were footsteps marching there way up the stairs and in came a woman with sneaker wedges and short straight hair. It was Bonnie, the Bonnie Damon had come to know all to well. She squealed much like she did the first time she saw Cuddles. She ran to her and squeezed the life out of her._

"_This is unbelievable!" She cried. She had something else in her hands; the grimoire. That night she slept in her old bed with Cuddles snuggled by her side, and the next day she skipped all the way to the Salvatore Boardinghouse to say she was in a good mood was to say the least, she was in a spectacular mood. But when she walked into the house she heard Whatta Man blasting from the kitchen, with the smell of pancakes in the air. And their Damon met himself for the first time, dancing with a bottle of liquor. Bonnie clears her throat and Damon does so as well as he stops dancing immediately as he was caught in the act._

"_I didn't know you cooked."_

"_I don't. How'd you sleep? Me not good, my 1994 mattress was very lumpy. Whatchu got there?" Damon asked while flipping pancakes._

"_Oh Ms. Cuddles. I lost her when I was nine. But I went into my house last night and there she was. I also found this at my Grams's house. Her old grimoire."_

_Damon had looked at Bonnie strangely when she introduced Cuddles and Damon wish he could remember what had run through his head in that immediate moment._

"_Yeah well I found this. I drunk it last year when Ric died." Damon paraded himself to change the cd playing. Bonnie seated Cuddles on a stool, and walked towards him._

"_So we're in this snapshot of another time or something. Everything that existed in 1994 still exists."_

"_For better or for worse." And then music started to play until it was paused no doubt by Bonnie._

"_Listen there was a time when I couldn't practice magic. This grimoire taught me a lot. Maybe I can reteach myself." Then the music started playing again._

"_If you're still a witch, which with our luck and your skill probably ain't the case." _

"_Would a little support kill you?" Damon didn't have to see himself to know that he was a dick for saying that. And he knew that Stefan was probably judging him right now. As the months went by Cuddles saw them bicker incessantly and Damon realized that it usually began because he was bashing Bonnie as she tried to regain her magic. Everyday he told her that she was incapable and that they were stuck there forever. Damon got sick himself as he watched the asshole that he was. I mean even when they played monopoly he always cheated and why couldn't he just let her win at Tetris just once. What he hated watching the most was when they got into the biggest arguments and Bonnie left. And like Kai had reminded him she had left him 13 times. And each time she would run to her Grams house with Cuddles in hand, even though she knew Damon preferred it when she slept at the Boardinghouse. But she was too angry and torn to stay and he understood because he had been a piece of shit. When she finally made it home she would lock herself up, and snuggle with Cuddles._

"_I don't understand why he can't believe in me. I mean I know it's Damon and all. But if he really thinks we'll be stuck here for all eternity, the least he could do is stop being such an ass. But Damon is never going to change and that's why I'm not going back. I'll go to Mexico or something. Yeah I'll go to Mexico." Bonnie huffed. And the next day she would try being alone but Damon could see it drove her mad._

"_I know what you're thinking Cuddles. This is what I always do. But maybe he'll believe this time. Maybe he'll change. People can't be the same forever." And that's how Bonnie always made it back before sundown the next day and Damon never, not once apologized. But Damon wasn't always a dick, they had shared nice moments too. Like when Bonnie decided to give him a lesson in cooking but they ended up making a mess because Damon forgot to put the top on the blender, or any of there other cooking lessons. The time they both got drunk because they both felt especially low that day, and ended up having a dance competition. Bonnie was the clear winner but Damon insisted that he was the champ. Bonnie just laughed and then they both laughed deliriously for an outrageous amount of time until they finally calmed down, and Bonnie had found herself comfortable in Damon's lap. Damon started telling tales of his past and Bonnie listened until her eyes could no longer stay open. Damon carried her and Cuddles up to bed, and before he left she whispered something that he still remembers._

"_If this is hell it isn't that bad." Damon stood there smiling like a fool._

"_Yeah you're right." He whispered back but she was already long gone. There was that time they played hide and seek and Bonnie kept on looking in the wrong direction. He knows now that it was because Kai was playing along with them. The time he decided to teach Bonnie how to play the piano and to his surprise she was a quick learner. Heck there was even a time, when Bonnie had even convinced him to paint her toenails. He still doesn't understand how she persuaded him to do so. But he'd have to say his favorite moment was when he taught Bonnie how to hotwire a car and they drove all the way to the beach. For one day they forgot they were imprisoned and just lived life. Soon came the moment when Damon left Bonnie and he only heard it since Cuddles was inside Bonnie's backpack but it hurt just the same. Damon held his breath as he waited for Bonnie to say something. But the only thing he heard was Kai growling and muttering to himself. Damon waited with bated breath to hear Bonnie speak again._

"_Look who finally decided to wake up. __You know you've been out for awhile now and I just keep on thinking about what you did earlier. And all I can say is how could you have possibly been so stupid!" Still Damon waited, until finally he heard her. He inhaled sharply at the sound of her voice, as if he were breathing for the very first time._

"_I wouldn't have expected you to understand." His girl was alive. Later he could hear that she made a run for it, his girl was alive and kicking. Next time he saw her face he had never felt so relived but that relief quickly washed away when he saw the amount of blood that she was losing. But she did nothing besidse lay down._

"_I love you Cuddles, I hope you know that." It was then he realized that she was giving up._

"_What do you think he's doing right now, Cuddles?" She asked her green eye glaring at him. At first Damon thought she was talking about Jeremy._

"_You're right he's probably celebrating with Elena and Stefan." And then a small smile formed on her lips and Damon realized she was talking about him._

"_I'm ready." She said closing her eyes, for what seemed the final time._

"No you're not ready. You're not ready. Bonnie get back up!" Damon growled at her even though a part of him knew she could not hear. He literally sat there watching her die and there was nothing he could do about it. Damon was about to lose it when Kai came barging in, and he had never been happier to see the bastard. _Quickly he checked her heartbeat and then peeled of her shirt._

"_You don't get to die, remember. We're stuck here together." Kai said as he started cleaning her wound. And as aggravating as it was watching Kai stitch her up Damon was still glad that he had saved her. A few hours later she had awaken only to be pissed at the fuck that she had, which only saddened Damon more. Damon soon watched Kai suck some of the power out of her and his found his hand wrapped in a tight fist. The next day Bonnie awoke to Kai sleeping next to her and she thought it was Damon. And Damon wished it had been, wished that they we're both still stuck in 1994 together. But instead Damon was watching Kai attempt to flirt, which made his stomach want to flip inside out. Eventually she left the room but when she returned she had a look of confusion on her face._

"_Cuddles, he's gone. He left just like that, and he won't be coming back." Damon could tell she was slightly bothered._

"_He told me to beep him whenever I want, as if." She smiled but that was the last time she did so. If Damon had hated watching her give up, he was being ripped him apart from what he saw next. In just one week Bonnie had lost it, she was talking to voices inside her head and not Cuddles either. She didn't sleep, eat, nothing, she wasn't living she just gave up. Lost it completely if he hadn't known better she looked like she belonged in a mental asylum. Especially the day she launched out of bed and decided to hike up a mountain with her bare feet. Damon didn't have the slightest clue as to what she was doing but a fear crept inside of him. She hade made it to the top and neared the edge of what looked like a cliff. The sunset was gorgeous, but Damon had a strange feeling he knew what Bonnie intended on doing there. He then realized what he was fearing._

"_Are you ready Cuddles?"_

"No Cuddles isn't ready and neither are you!" Damon found himself screaming.

"_I'm sorry Damon."_ He lost his ability to speak as he heard her apologize to him. Why was she apologizing to him, when he didn't deserve any apology? Why was he of all people going to be her last thought. Then he saw her move closer to the edge.

"No Bonnie. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was a dick. I'm sorry I left you there alone. Just don't do this ok. Please do not do this!" He couldn't see her he could only see the sun setting, but he pleaded anyways. Maybe if he saw her face she could somehow hear him. He knew there wasn't a chance but he hoped that there was.

"_Don't you dare take another step! Bonnie turn around… please."_

"_Kai?"_

"_How about you take a step back." As Bonnie turned around Damon was allowed to see his face. The kid was the devil but right now Damon thought he was a fucking godsend as Kai tried to convince her to back away from the edge while closing the distance between them._

"_How did you find me?"_

"_You didn't think I'd let you out of my sight, did you?"_

"_You've been watching me?"_

"_Of course I was, in the hopes that you might have tried to escape, but instead you decided to lose your marbles." It was true Kai had been watching her she might not have noticed but he had lurked in the shadows as she lost her mind. _

"_There is no escape besides death." Bonnie whispered and Damon swallowed hard._

"_Bonnie Bennett. I thought you were stronger than most, I thought you of all people could fight this. But I guess I was wrong." Kai laughed and Damon sneered at him._

"_Even the strong fall." This was true because Bonnie was the strongest person Damon knew and yet her she stood on the brink of her own demise._

"_Trust me I know. I warned you about this place didn't I."_

"_Yeah you did." Damon could hear the smile in her voice as she said it._

"_Don't fucking do it." _

"Please don't do it Bonnie." Damon cried he needed her to be alive.

"_It's too late." Then she jumped and Damon felt his intestines swim. But by luck Kai had gotten a hold onto Cuddles foot and there was still hope. The only thing in Damon's peripheral vision was Bonnie and the ground far below._

"_How many times do I have to tell you, that the only way you will die here is when I decide I want to murder you!" Damon could care less about Kai's threats because as of now he was rooting for him. As much as it killed Damon to realize Kai was Bonnie's last hope._

"_Let go of Cuddles!" Damon could feel himself ripping on the outside but it was nothing compared to how he was being ripped apart on the inside._

"_Don't you think it's funny you value this bear's life more than your own."_

"_I said let her go."_

"_No." Damon gazed into her emerald eyes as he hair whipped around and begged her not to let go of Cuddles. He could tell her mind was racing a mile a minute until she began to chant something._

"_What?" He heard Kai say._

"_Goodbye." Then Damon felt her unlatch her hand from his paw. And the most beautiful smile graced her face as she let go._

"NOOOO!" The sound broke free from somewhere deep inside of him. He couldn't help the tears that he shed. What hurt him most was how free she looked as she fell to the ground. She looked like an angel free falling her way down to earth. There was something hauntingly beautiful about it, because that's exactly what she was an angel who had lost her wings that had fell on earth. Her last smile imprinted itself in his brain. He didn't see her hit the ground because a second later Cuddles was sitting behind the pancake batter on the counter, watching Damon attempt to drink himself to death.

Damon released Cuddles paw, because he already knew the rest of the story.

"I'm sorry." Liv announced she didn't now that Damon and Bonnie were close but after all that she saw she could tell that the one who would hurt most was Damon.

"Yeah me too." Damon croaked as he wiped the tears away and sniffled. The next second he had regained his mask of blank arrogance.

"I guess we'll be leaving but remember not a word of this to anyone, as far as anyone knows Bonnie was never there she passed peacefully when the Other Side went down." Damon reminded her, he couldn't afford for anyone to find about this, Liv nodded in understanding. Then Damon grabbed Ms. Cuddles and bolted out the door not waiting for Stefan to follow. But Stefan did follow and stopped him when they had reached outside.

"Don't you wanna talk about what we just saw in there?" Stefan inquired with his eyes full of compassion and pity, which only infuriated Damon he didn't want to be pitied.

"No, I don't want to _talk_ about it!" Damon sneered why on earth would he want to talk about the horrible things he just witnessed.

"Damon I know it's hard-" Stefan began.

"No it's not hard Stefan. It's, it's, it's unfathomable." Damon uttered. Even though he saw it with his very own eyes he still couldn't believe it. He had concrete proof before his very opulent eyes and yet he could not and did not want to see it for what it is.

"I know but we have to talk about it. Maybe it'll make you feel better." Stefan retorted it pained him to know of Bonnie's demise as well.

"_Feel better_? Please indulge me as to how it could make me feel better, because I feel like I've been hit by a goddamn train!" There was no way he would be feeling better any time soon, possibly not ever.

"I don't want you to close back up again, I mean today is the only day we've had an actual conversation since you returned. I'm worried about you so if you need to talk, I'm here." Stefan explained he feared his brother would crawl back into his shell that he had just so barely managed to escape from today.

"You wanna talk, okay let's talk." Damon mocked him as he showcased himself listening, by craning his neck and ear towards Stefan's lips. Stefan refused to answer him; to bow down to his incessant provocation.

"What baby brother, cat got your tongue?" Damon smirked mischievously although it didn't even remotely match the look in his eyes.

"Don't do this Damon. Not now." Stefan could see where this was heading.

"Why not? I think right now is the perfect time to do this." Damon smirked yet again as he invaded Stefan's personal space trying to goad him.

"I know this is hurting you, especially after what I saw in there. And I'm sorry Bonnie's dead." Stefan apologized as if it were his fault because he felt that part of it was. The second Damon heard him utter those words something inside Damon snapped, leaving him unhinged. Damon lunged for Stefan's v-neck and reeled him in.

"Don't you ever say those words again." Damon threatened but this time it wasn't empty it was full of rage and truth, Stefan had unlocked the Pandora's box inside of Damon except this box was different this box didn't have any hope after the infinite streams of monsters.

"But it's the truth." Stefan retorted as he shoved Damon off of him.

"Whether you like it or not!" Stefan finished as he glared at Damon. Damon swallowed hard, as he felt completely lost but he focused on his brother. He made his way to him leaving mere centimeters between them as he jabbed his finger into Stefan's chest.

"I don't care what you think you know. Never say it again." Damon growled he was untamed and on edge, Stefan could see that Damon's mind was in the midst of a storm. Then Damon turned and walked away towards any destination as long as he was away from him, from his words, from this moment, from this truth. Stefan called after him but Damon didn't hear because he could not hear anything other than the vulgar noises in his head as he fought himself. Stefan didn't follow him because he knew his brother and he needed time, time to adjust, and time to let the hard unsettling truth sink in.

Damon continued to walk off into the distasteful night, dwelling within himself when something hit him; something doused with immense amounts of vervain. The world started to spin as fast as his mind was until everything was a just a huge swirl of greys and blacks, and his insides were sent on fire.

"Remember me." A voice asked as Damon forced himself to look up only to find a grinning Tripp staring back at him.

"Yeah I thought so." Damon could see a foot coming down on him and then it went all black.

Bonnie was on an empowered high from leaving Kai dead on the living room floor. In fact some could argue she had never felt better. She hummed in the shower, she had been there for awhile considering how peaceful it was letting the water fall against her skin and rinsing all the blood away.

"My name is Bonnie. I'm so very

Fly oh my, it's a little bit scary

Boys wanna marry, looking at my derriere

And you can stare but if you touch it Imma bury

Pretty as picture

Sweeter than a swisher

Mad cause I'm cuter than the girl that's with you

I don't gotta talk about it baby you can see it

But if you want I'll be happy to repeat it." Bonnie sang with a sweet smile on her face as she turned off the water, still surprised she hadn't wrinkled into a prune. She pulled on her bathrobe as she sauntered to the mirror and continued to sing.

"All eyes on me when I walk in

No question that this girl's a 10

Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful" She danced in front of the mirror that shower had brought her back to life because she looked like a zombie before, sure her eye bags were still there but those would go away once she got a good nights sleep.

"Don't hate me cause I'm –" Her mouth clenched shut as she saw Kai standing behind her with gauze wrapped around his neck.

"Beautiful. Gotta say never heard of this song before but I'm a fan." Kai finished as he sang into her collarbone.

"What do you want?" Bonnie exhaled as she began to comb through her damp hair.

"Before you get all hostile again I came her to tell you congratulations." Kai whispered in her ear and then smiled at her as they eyed each other in the mirror.

"For what?" Bonnie paused combing her hair to await his answer.

"For passing my test." Kai exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are you trying to say me killing you was a test?" Bonnie snorted as she started to comb her hair again.

"In a way. In order to survive you can't be submissive, you have to be in control of your own life. If you had eaten the spaghetti you would have failed." Kai explained.

"Uh huh." Bonnie said vaguely as she was focused on moisturizing right now.

"So that means you're ready for your first lesson, which starts now." Kai finished as he gagged her with a chloroform hand towel. Bonnie fought but it was useless in a few seconds she was out like a light.

"Now how's that song go again? My eyes on you when you walk in. No question that this girl's a 10." Kai sang as he examined her face to make sure she was down and then through her over his shoulder for the second time this night.

"I'll be honest you sang it better. Oh and don't worry about where we're going, you're gonna love it." Kai snickered to himself he had big plans ahead for the both of them.

Damon was still in loopy town as he tried to make sense of the images spinning around in front of him.

"Damon, we have got to stop meeting like this." The words coaxed in an accent chuckled. Damon tried to register where the voice was coming from.

"I've been thinking maybe this is our thing. Regular people have songs they dance too or a running joke. But we're not regular people. So maybe this is it. Maybe us getting held against our will and trapped in deathly situations by petty humans, maybe that's our thing." The accent surmised as it was deep in thought. Damon finally pinpointed where the voice was coming from and stared at the spot until everything made sense.

"Enzo?" Damon questioned as Enzo did still sorta look like lasagna to him.

"Yes it is I. I've got to say despite the circumstances it's great to see you, mate. Although you don't look in the best condition but then again I can't really blame you I must look horrid myself." Enzo continued, he figured he might as well talk there was nothing better to do.

"Shutup. And tell me what's going on here?" Damon winced as he forced himself to sit up but every part of his body still lingered in a fire.

"Make up your mind do you want me to shut up or speak up?" Enzo laughed he could tell he was pestering Damon but once again he had nothing better to do. Damon responded with a glare of death.

"Relax I'm just trying to lighten the mood." Enzo smiled somberly as he laid his head against the wall, why was it that he was always trapped.

"Why are we here?" Damon asked still trying to sort his brain out. As if on cue, in came Tripp from a door Damon hadn't noticed before. Tripp watched the two of them like caged animals at a zoo.

"Glad to see you're awake. Damon is it?" Tripp asked awaiting confirmation but Damon just sneered at him.

"Anyways to answer your question you too are here today, because I need you. Considering you and you're gang of monsters slaughtered all my friends." Tripp paused as he remembered seeing every single one of his friends die.

"Frankly if we're being honest here, if you hadn't tried to kill us first that whole situation could have probably been avoided." Enzo blinked.

"And if you really think that we're going to be your new vampire hunter buddies, you got another thing coming for ya." Damon added.

"Nah that's not what I need you for, I need you guys for something else. Don't worry though in time you'll know. Now you two get a good nights rest we have a long week ahead of us." Tripp stated as he hit the lights and left Damon in Enzo in a blanket of darkness.

The cold was what woke her up. Shivers were raking her small body as she wrestled her eyes open. When they ultimately opened her view was of the night sky, it was littered with stars. But she didn't get lost in the moment because she remembered what Kai had said that this was her first lesson. So she sat up only to find out that she had been tied up with about 3 yards of some heavy-duty rope. So she squirmed her way into seating position only to learn that she was in a canoe in the middle of a quarry and her rope was tied to a weight that looked like it was extremely heavy. She sat there confused trying to figure out what the hell was the plan or the lesson here. It was quiet except for the crickets singing as they always did. She sighed as she figured she'd probably be freezing her ass on this canoe for a while, unless Kai's lesson was that she had to get out.

"Lesson One: Expect the Unexpected!" She heard Kai's voice boom through the night he was watching her. But she didn't get it was she suppose to expect that he'd gag her and strap her to a canoe. But then she broke out of her thoughts when she heard something, something besides the crickets' song, something was ticking. A ticking that was directly behind, her head snapped to the source. It looked like a timer duck taped to something red with a bunch of wires. The numbers were counting down and right now they were at 1:43. Her eyes bulged at of her head as she realized what she was looking at.

"Holy shit! That's a bomb!" Bonnie screamed, she highly doubted her body could recover if she were to be blown to pieces.

1:37

**Next up on my version of The Vampire Diaries (if I'm not to lazy): Damon and Enzo have a conversation that may or may not renew Damon's faith in miracles. The gang learns that the devious two have been kidnapped and have to come up with a plan. On the Other Side Kai pushes Bonnie to new extremes.**

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Leave me reviews, send me asks on Tumblr or whatever because I love hearing you guys feedback. Oh and the song Bonnie was singing was Pretty Girl Rock by Keri Hilson.


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